Democrats Have a Weak Spot at the Pump in Swing States
As a share of Americans’ disposable personal income, gasoline costs across the US are not much different now than during the Trump administration. But averages mask disparities.
Actually, not that bad.
Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg
Following his dismal debate performance on Thursday, at least President Joe Biden and the rest of the Democratic party needn’t worry too much about pump prices. Except, that is, in the states that really matter come November.
It is a truism to say that gasoline prices pose risks for US presidents, especially in the summer of an election year. A recent op-ed in the Financial Times by Dan Yergin, the dean of oil historians, declared: “Biden may have a petrol problem.” That “may” is a fulcrum on which all manner of geopolitical and market possibilities turn. The price spike of 2022 on the back of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was one such example.