Obama in trouble regardless of price of oil. Ask him about FISA...

Keep your fingers crossed.

I'm still laughing at your thinking Iraq was in Europe.

The economy might still kinda suck. In the market, nothing goes down, down, down, down, it goes down, down, up, down. Have no fear, soon enough there'll be some insane news to make it go back up.

the drilling issue is a problem for all democrats.  It sounds easy and simple, exactly the kind of approach Republicans love to use to bludgeon us to death with.

In regards to whether a drop in oil prices hurts Obama, you can kiss my butt.  I could care less whether it hurts him or not, I am spending tons of cash getting to work each month and my personal life is more important than one particular issue with voters.  

Oil prices dropping hurt the drill-happy Republicans.  Our economic woes are rooted in issues deeper than gas prices.  If Gas was still $1/gallon we'd still be in this foreclosures mess with financial institutions facing liquidity problems.

It's, on average, 21%-22% less than it was 18-24 monrhs ago, based upon national averages.

That has virtually nothing to do with the price of oil.

The price of oil--this year--has much more to do with market manipulation (commodities trades, etc.) and the devaluation of the dollar than anything else.

Supply will be outstripping demand, officially, during the next President's four-year term (the general CW says this will occur around 2011 or 2012). But, truth be told, increased demand is just a small portion of why prices are so high right now.

The far, far, far bigger problems with the economy, and our family budgets relate to:
-- the rapidly rising cost-of-living, in general (not just as it relates to the price of a gallon of gas),
-- the devaluation of the average American's net worth,
-- the overall (totally legitimate) lack of confidence in this country's financial health (around the world), which has been--and will continue to be--reflected in the higher and higher interest our country will be paying on our national debt in coming months and years,
-- the failure of our "free market," laissez faire market philosophy over the past 3+/- decades (someone forgot to remind the folks in power that "free market" didn't mean zero regulation),
-- the mortgage crisis, which has now spread worldwide (the rest of the developed world owns as much, if not more of our mortgage-backed-bonds than we do, here in the U.S.), and which is now deeply affecting other credit vehicles,
-- the decline of America's automotive industry, to the point of it sinking into oblivion before our very eyes,
-- and many other factors--too many to get into in any detail in a diary coment.

General concept here is: the cost of a gallon of gas really hasn't been as big a factor in our country's financial mess as most would have us believe. It will become more of a factor over the next few years. And, it may be what the typical voter's pointing to in terms of their disgust and skepticism. But, that's really more of a perception issue than anything else. And, yes, politics IS perception.

But, once most Americans get a clue that they're "upside down" in their house (they owe more than it's worth), they're not going to be happy campers...even if gas is only $3.50 a gallon.

The only way it would hurt Obama is if Bush and McCain were stupid enough to claim that oil went down because Bush signed an executive order lifting offshore ban. Of course, no financial analyst has attributed the drop to that. All have agreed that lowered demand has caused prices to drop. But if Bush/McCain tried to take credit for the drop - and people believe it - then Obama would be in a bit of trouble.

The drop in oil, however, actually helps Obama by taking drilling off the agenda.

The real issue is speculators and the Democrats HAVE to push for a bill against that.

Oil prices always go down when:

a) Americans cut back on consumption
or
b) Americans get serious about alternative energy.

(They also drop before an election, but that drop is a few months away.)

you are concerned that 1 thing might hurt Obama?

Never mind our economy is free falling fast and that's not going to change.

If anything I hope gas doesn't change so that people get off thier  asses and get motivated to get off of oil.

I'm less concerned that it's going to hurt Obama becuase well if you accept Bush and company got those prices lowered then you also have to accept it was thier stupidity that got prices up in teh first place.

Gas. Movements. My Ass. PU.

Anyone up for a game of "Password"?

I'm rooting for down, down and nothing but down. I've got a cross country and back trek upcoming.

This is an ingrained and deserved reputation on the economy that the GOP has forged. No one is going to consider gas prices low if they drop a dollar per gallon. Hell, I remember paying $2.81 less than six months ago in Miami.

Even in '06 approaching the midterm and with Iraq at its worst, Bush' approval ratings on the economy were lower than his approval numbers on Iraq. I posted that many times. We blew it in '06 by not focusing more on the economy. Iraq was already built into the poll numbers and we might have salvaged some of the narrowly lost House seats with more economic emphasis.

Now, just imagine the economic realities since November '06. Does anyone seriously believe a drop in gas prices can overcome soaring food prices, plummeting home values, etc.? Republicans can't get off the hook on this one.

and filed in the proper place.

A drop in oil prices is a net for Obama. No more drilling!

I love the economic expertise apparent in this diary. Oil may have dropped $16 in the past week but it's doubled in the past 18 months even at today's prices. Even if the price stays in the mid 130's which itself is highly debatable the impact, much of which hasn't really been felt yet, think heating oil, will remain cathartic. This is a very dumb diary.      

People's memories aren't that short term but guarantee they'll go down right before the election.  The oil companies and media will  say it's market influences but it seems to go down that time every two and most especially every 4 years when the repubs are running things.

If Bush removes all troops from Iraq before November... Obama is in trouble.

If Bush pushes through Universal Heath Care before November...Obama is in trouble.

If kingsbridge quits watching FOX...Obama is in trouble

Au contraire, Obama can claim he did it because he voted for the Cheney energy bill.

Of course if any of you were democrats you would be upset about that vote. Oops I forgot I am not allowed to point out the great ones short comings

to be Bush III. But what about Obama? What percentage of the time did he vote for/against Bush?  What has he filibustered? What has he made a great floor speech against? What has he even made a statement to the press and caused a big stink about?

No way oil prices are going that far down.And frankly, the prices are killing me.

Thank you for your concern.  We will keep this thought in mind and come up with a plan to hijack all oil companies and tell them to hike their prices or we will stop buying their crude.  I know if we plan real hard we will overcome.  LOL.  I am sure the oil companies will be back in busness hiking their prices in no time.  Look for this during labor day when people want to travel the most.  That is usually how the game is played.  Greed is something that cannot be overcome.