Gasoline prices fuel discontent

Unemployment is at a near-historic low of 4.7%, and economic growth in the first three months of the year was a healthy 4.8%.

And views of the economy? They’re not so rosy. By 2-1, Americans rate economic conditions as fair or poor, not good or excellent.

The top reason: gas prices.

“If gas prices get higher between now and the election or even stay at 3 bucks a gallon, that’s going to be a problem for Republicans,” says political scientist Gary Jacobson of the University of California at San Diego, author of The Politics of Congressional Elections.

“It takes the edge off the good economy, which would be their main selling point at this juncture.”

USA Today