Dem
51
GOP
49
Don't look now, but gas prices are way down as compared to last year. You know, back when the sky was falling, and folks were saying that $5/gallon gas could mean the end of civilization as we know it?
To be more specific, according to the American Automobile Association, the national average for a gallon of non-premium gas right now is $3.54 a gallon. A year ago it was $4.47 a gallon, and in June of last year it was $5.02 a gallon. Given that last year has witnessed pretty heavy-duty inflation, gas right now is not much more expensive, in absolute dollars, as it was when Joe Biden took office. Prices always go up during the summer as more people get out and about due to the good weather, and also as people take driving-heavy vacations. So, if you like bargain gas, better get it while the getting is good.
We doubt that Joe Biden had very much to do with the gas prices when they were high, and we think he probably only had a bit more to do with the fact that they're low now. But the crummy thing about being president is that voters are more than happy to blame you when the gas is expensive, while they give no credit whatsoever when the gas is (relatively) cheap. Pretty much every single driver remembers a time when gas was three bucks a gallon, or maybe two bucks, or a buck, or less. And so, unless prices get that low again, then it will seem to most voters that prices are either "too high" or "holding serve." And neither of those help a president's approval rating.
And, indeed, there's still inflation, there's a banking crisis, and there's the whole debt ceiling mess. And so, even though gas prices have dropped like a stone, poll respondents are still hammering Biden on the economy. We just cannot imagine why anyone would want to be president. People crap on you and crap on you and crap on you and then, if you're lucky, after you leave office some of them say "You know, maybe he wasn't too bad." (Z)