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The University of Virginia’s Larry Sabato discusses the president’s response to increasing prices at the pump and how it will impact the 2012 elec...
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The -- death alone may not heard president Obama's chances for a second term but.
His response to the prices can and here's what he had to say about gas prices just last week.
You know there are no quick fixes to this problem.
You know we can't just drill our way to lower gas prices.
-- since that -- the president's approval rating has been falling.
According to Rasmussen Reports President Obama had a 50% approval rating last Thursday today.
It's down five points to 45%.
University of Virginia center for political pop politics professor Larry -- he joined the company now in Larry.
You know -- The president seemed to try to get that crowd that particular crowd which obviously was a favorable crowd -- -- -- join him with them or China with them.
It feels like the American public though isn't gonna take that particular line of reasoning that -- that there's no answer to higher gas prices.
But let's have fully right look at American history in the end after months of suffering and it does have to build up.
People almost always turn to a president and say what he gonna do about this.
But we didn't elect you to tell us there are no answers you have to provide some answers.
When people get frustrated and unhappy they tend to vote against incumbents.
Not just incumbent presidents but incumbent members of congress as well so.
I think it's critical to see how high the prices go.
And whether the high prices are sustained -- the fault that's the critical.
Time are they gonna fall back.
-- the way they usually do after Labor Day or as some are suggesting.
Who were in that field will these high prices persist even to Election Day if they do it's gonna take some points off.
President Obama.
And to -- point Larry a lot of political observers and I want your opinion on this -- by the Labor Day.
The vast majority of us have made up our mind so let's just say.
Gasoline prices are well north of four dollars at that point gonna be too late even if they -- to start to drift lower.
Well but look 45% of its probably hard you know for whom we're gonna vote -- very polarized era.
When I say 45% for each side so that's you know 90% total maybe the whole campaign is about 10%.
So that 10% can go back and forth depending on the issues but.
The matter in the but the more frustrated.
These individuals and that 10% get the more likely they are to vote against incumbent and that can happen at any time.
Well there's no doubt the White House is scrambling -- they made a big mistake earlier what the Catholic Church a big pullback quickly on that looks like they're trying to do something with respect to the to the Keystone Pipeline may be too little too late.
Do you think the president now is gonna change his response the way.
He talks about gasoline you think -- gonna get off this notion that hey there's nothing I can do except maybe looking -- algae.
-- well he'll have to come up with a program I mean he can suggest AB CD.
It is it is energy -- his problem is.
Even when he had a democratic congress he couldn't get the energy plan passed.
That is a legitimate point that any Republican nominee is going to raise.
Throughout the fall campaign.
The other thing I wonder about Charles is the strategic petroleum reserve you know president's.
Can tap that under the right set of circumstances and temporarily it can lower gas prices you know 1015 cents a gallon.
If you do that at the right moment you can affect the election politics obviously would have to come late summer very early fall all.
-- by the same token I mean it's it's strategic petroleum reserve.
Typically I guess -- -- put it together if we were in the warlike situations or are places word nothing else work.
It would seem like the president says okay this is the only option that I have -- obviously that would be a limited option right Larry.
That that's -- gonna we're gonna talk about a plant and -- land right we're not talking about diet -- actually we talk about I don't know what's the circumstances will be.
Breath okay.
Layers have a -- that's what we appreciate about.
