Oil Prices are dropping to influence the election.

[Political Heretic]

Happened in past election cycles... its happening now.

[mucifer]

1. ummm it's a bit early for that. The prices are still so high people will be losing money

paying for gas in the next few months. It all adds up.

[Political Heretic]

4. No it isn't. They will continue this gradual declining trend over the next months

In order to dull focus on the economy

[tilsammans]

7. Yep. The same thing happened in 2004 . . .

. . . oooooo, we'd better all vote for McCain! :sarcasm:

[DebJ]

2. I was thinking the same.

[NYC_SKP]

3. I, like, totally agree, dude.

I'm feelin' my California....

But seriously, it is true and has happened before.

[texastoast]

5. Yes, and we just have to wonder what is in store for the

October surprise.

[Diane R]

6. Yep. As if the public will forget.

[ecstatic]

8. Yeah. Now it's down to 3 f*cking 89 per gallon for regular

:puke: Thanks so much Mr. Bush.

[redstate_democrat]

9. I hope they don't think people can't see through that.

Rethuglicans are so silly.

[BalancedGoat]

10. It's possible.

However, I remember seeing a chart of gas prices that someone posted on here not too long ago and the prices appeared to drop a bit around this general time regardless of whether or not it was an election year.

I don't know where to find it but I'll look anyway. If anyone reading this knows where to find it please post a link.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

11. Why would this necessarily be a GOOD thing for the Republicans?

If people see gas prices go down WITHOUT more offshore drilling being approved or adopting any Republican so-called "remedies" to the problem then wouldn't that seem to blunt the effectiveness of McCain's attacks on Obama? Also, regardless of what happens to gas prices, the economy is still NOT going to make a miraculous recovery over the next few months so Bush's "economy" is STILL going to be an issue that works to Obama's advantage and I would think that it would be a lot harder for McCain to blame Democrats for the general state of the economy (that Bush and the GOP presided over) than it would be to blame them for high gas prices (despite the fact that THAT premise is patently false to begin with anyway):shrug:

[awoke_in_2003]

17. It doesn't have to make sense...

We are talking about republican voters, after all

[Proud Liberal Dem]

20. I have a bad habit of forgetting what we are REALLY dealing with sometimes

*sigh*

However, it would certainly be nice if we could figure out how to get the truth across to some of these people.:banghead:

[awoke_in_2003]

25. Don't think you can...

the only thing true is things that fit their preconceived notions and biases.

[PurityOfEssence]

12. Demand has gone down and supply is up.

Even if nefarious unseen hands ARE at work, this is still a pretty clear causal interplay here...

People are suffering. The party of living off of overinflated home equity is over, and people are eating out, going out, driving and generally whooping it up less.

Believe me, I wouldn't put anything past the monarchists and I'm a mildly raving conspiracy theorist even on the sunniest of days, but this just seems fairly innocent.

[depakid]

13. Ya gotta remember: the whole world revolves around America

Everyone's petrol prices go up and down to suit Republican ambitions....

[TheKentuckian]

15. Don't underestimate the spin

or more some people's ability to buy in to it. Already the big talking point is that just by lifting the ban on the protected areas and telling the good for nothing Congress to follow suite, Dubya has lowered prices.

The amount of people that think all this drilling is wise is staggering. We have oil tycoons putting ads on TV advising the public that we can't drill our way out of this energy problem but 70% of people say they'd like to give it a shot at any cost.

The worst thing is no matter what the price is in 5-10-15 years the idiot Republicans will take credit for keeping costs low by ensuring a steady supply and idiot voters will nod in agreement.

[depakid]

16. I don't underestimate that at all

and given past history, I fully expect the Democrats to get pummelled and drop the ball on the issue.

To paraphrase Col Jessop from "A few Good Men" -Americans can't handle the truth about energy issues.

And to paraphrase Dick Cheney: wasteful and unsustainable lifestyles are non-negotiable.

On the other hand- the issue is ripe for reverse demogoguery- and Republicans deserve the lions' share of the blame for the problems the country faces. If only the Dems knew how to play that game to win....

[scheming daemons]

14. The markets are too big for any government, even ours, to control....

Laws of supply and demand are at work here.....not a nefarious govt plot.

[TexasObserver]

18. Yes, they'll drop the next three months, right up to election day.

It's all part of the oil company's scheme to save a few Republican seats that would be lost if gasoline is over $4 a gallon come November first.

[auburngrad82]

19. They rose in 2000 to beat Gore and they dropped in 2004 to help Chimp

In any other industry there would be price fixing allegations. Why not in the oil industry?

[BalancedGoat]

26. I don't know about 2000...

... but according to the link below, in 2004, prices peaked maybe two weeks before the election and continued dropping right up until the end of the year. If it was really a scam to win the election it was poorly executed. If influencing the election was your goal you'd probably want to start dropping prices at least a good month in advance. And what's the point of continuing the drop right up until the end of the year? Now if we held elections in 2005 you might be on to something; the drop leading up to November that year was staggering.

http://www.gasbuddy.com/gb_retail_price_chart.aspx

[cliffordu]

21. I just saw the Idjit in chief in the rose garden calling for more drilling -

if the ANWR ain't opened up the Dems get blamed for high gas prices. Nice tactic, wish I'd thought of it.

[writes3000]

22. I completely agree. The Oil regimes want influence in the White House. Absolutely. n/t

[Bad Thoughts]

23. It had better keep dropping

I doubt it would help McCain unless oil dropped below $60/barrel. The problem is that US companies no longer have the say they used to about the price of oil, given the decline of the dollar and growing demand from China and India. Too many variables out of the control of Republicans and energy industry to manipulate prices at this level.

[Neshanic]

24. Agree. Will be about 3 bucks, then after election, heating oil will skyrocket and gas will.

[johnaries]

27. Nope, too early. They're dropping because Congress started

pushing anti-speculation bills last week to close the Enron Loophole. If the bills pass (and they have a good chance) they will have to dump the oil they're hoarding, so they are starting to sell off now to keep from losing their profits. As the legislation goes forward, expect to see them lower even more.

[Political Heretic]

29. God I hope so. But I'm skeptical.

We have a historical precedent for believing that prices are dropping because of the election. Do they really fear this bill? It doesn't have a veto-proof majority does it? Bush will veto it.

[Kahuna]

28. Of course. And entirely predictable. nt

[WyvernBaby]

30. I don't discard that possibility

We were lied into war twice (Vietnam and Iraq). Anything in possible in a right-wing admin.