Because we all know the President sets the price of gas. In fact, he rides around on a magic sleigh every night, physically changing the numbers on the signs of every gas station in America. Just like Santa Claus, but more satanic and Hitler-y.
God, people are stupid.
Although it often seems that way, America does not have a monopoly on stupidity. Some years ago, several Thais I interviewed cited a drought as their reason for opposing the incumbent party.
The great floods of 2011 are a different matter: it appears clear that the ruling party diverted floodwater from its provinces to Bangkok (which supports the opposition). OTOH, there are rumors that dam officials supporting the opposition allowed reservoirs to fill early on, hoping for floods that would discredit the government. :dubious:
Never a dull moment in Thai politics (though not approaching the asininity of U.S. politics).
Yeah, but what do you expect from those lefties at the Cato Institute?
One wonders why the Koch brothers are trying to get control back over the Cato Institute, too.
I tend to use this RealClearPolitics - RealClearPolitics Poll Averages & **RealClearPolitics - Election 2012 - General Election: Romney vs. Obama **as it gives me a bunch of recent polls at once. I am not a Democrat though I am planning to vote for Obama again baring some completely unexpected Republican grabbing the nomination.
It looks like a small recent dip after a good growth over the last few months. People will probably get used to the sticker shock at the pump and we’ll see where the polls are in another 2 weeks.
He is still beating Romney after a hit for gas prices and he is crushing the other 2 idiot candidates.
Newest poll shows Obama’s approval rating growing again.
More Americans approve of the job Obama’s doing than disapprove.
How Afraid are Republicans of Obama’s Growing Approval Rating?
It’s not just Democrats who want Obama to win - it’s the rest of the World.
(President Santorum?! Really?)
Really want to see the OP respond to this. Here’s a summary from that link. The first number is the approval rating, the second disapproval.
Come on tullsterx, how afraid are you of the entire Republican field’s dismal poll numbers? How are you rationalizing this?
But yeah, it’s the democrats who are in denial here. Sure.
I still don’t get why anyone would care whether the opposition is scared or not. Being scared doesn’t make that side lose. In fact, it may spur action that causes their side to organize and win, or it may not. The whole premise of the OP seems to be that as long as the Dems are running scared, the Reps have done their job, or something. Seriously, wouldn’t you want the Dems to be in denial and feel safe? That will mean less of us to come out to vote for Obama.
Other than not pumping oil out of the ground in the first place, is there really enough offline* storage capacity for petroleum or petroleum products (such as gasoline) to make that much difference in prices?
*By ‘offline,’ I mean capacity that isn’t being used on a regular basis as part of the distribution system.
I would rationalize that none of those dudes is really The Candidate yet, and that once the general-election campaign begins in earnest after August and Obama and the Pub are really out there presenting themselves, their poll numbers will draw closer together as November approaches – that always happens in an incumbent-challenger matchup, the incumbent always starts with a massive lead and loses it (though he might still win on e-day).
I know I’m quaking about Obama’s mere 12-point lead over Romney in the latest Pew poll: Romney Leads GOP Contest, Trails in Matchup with Obama | Pew Research Center
Bush didn’t.
In February of 2004, when nobody was the candidate yet (though to be fair I believe Kerry was the obvious favorite) Kerry and Edwards both beat Bush in a hypothetical matchup. Link
In early March of 2004, after Edwards dropped out, Kerry was still leading Bush. Link
Also, during this getting to know you stage where Romney ought to be increasing his favorability rating, it remains mostly flat where it’s always been while his unfavorable rating climbs. The idea is supposed to be that the more people learn about you, the more they like you. Mr. “Cheesy grits, y’all” is managing to do just the opposite. I do agree that the polls will get closer once the Santorum and Gingrich voters go to Romney but if I were a Republican I would be very, very worried right now.
It would not be accurate to characterize my state of mind as “afraid,” in any real sense. I will confess to a bit of frustration with the incessant attention being paid to the race for the Republican nomination. It takes the focus off the fact that it is vitally important that the United States NEVER AGAIN elect a Republican to the Presidency.
I expect that focus to return once the Republican nominee is actually decided. In the meantime, anything that gets Republicans to spend millions of dollars for ZERO return, must on balance, be considered a good thing.
Even better, no one has attacked Romney from the left (with the slight exception of Gingrich’s ads about Bain, which were effective.) Romney would have to radically change course to appeal to independents, which is going to be tough to do since he already has a reputation as a flip-flopper. And no Republican candidate has run an ad about how he drive to Canada with his dog on top of the family car.
On the other hand, to a casual observer, there isn’t much difference between a “flip-flopper” and a “moderate”. So it may be pretty easy for him to convince a large percentage of independents that he’s a moderate.
That’s somewhat true, because this is an issue the Obama campaign has been trying to figure out how to deal with, and they’ll be treading carefully around it. still, flip-flopper and moderate don’t really mean the same thing. Being a moderate doesn’t imply a lack of values or morals, and being a flip-flopper does. John Kerry was bashed for being a flip-flopper and it didn’t make people think he was a moderate.
Save for the fact that he’s spent the last six months publicly and repeatedly disavowing his earlier, moderate views on issues such as abortion and health care, in order to secure the nomination. If he tempers those sorts of views once he gets the nomination, he’ll alienate the conservative base, while probably not impressing the independents very much.