Quinten Martinez, pumping gas under a hot South Texas sun, remembers a time when fueling up didn’t require difficult decisions.
asserted
fueling → pump → decisions
“Is it going to be groceries this week?” asked the 28-year-old Amazon delivery driver as he watched the numbers tick higher.
asserted
numbers → go → ?
“Is it gonna be getting gas in our tank to go to work?”
asserted
it → go → work
He shook his head when asked about President Donald Trump’s assertion last week that higher gas prices are a small price to pay for the war with Iran.
asserted
prices → shake → Iran
“I don’t feel like it’s a good trade-off,” Martinez said.
asserted
Martinez → feel → ?
“I don’t feel like this is good for anyone.”
asserted
this → feel → anyone
Voters across the country, and across the political spectrum, tend to agree.
asserted
Voters → tend → spectrum
Interviews with voters in several states, along with a fresh round of national polling, reveal an overwhelming sense of frustration that skyrocketing gas prices — a direct result of Trump’s war — are creating serious and sustained financial hardships for America’s working class.
asserted
prices → reveal → class
The acute concerns are adding to a bad political environment that may be worsening for Trump and his Republican Party as early voting gets underway in the November midterm elections.
uncertain
voting → add → elections
Historically, the party holding the White House has suffered major losses in midterms.
asserted
party → hold → midterms
Today, seven weeks before Election Day, Republican candidates at all levels are struggling with the additional burden of Trump’s weak approval ratings, an unpopular foreign conflict and an affordability crisis that Trump and his congressional allies had promised to fix.
asserted
Trump → struggle → that
But when Trump campaigned in North Carolina on Wednesday, he played down the impact of surging gas prices.
asserted
he → campaign → prices
“You have a little higher.
asserted
You → have → higher
It’s a very inexpensive price to pay for what we’ve done,” Trump said of the war, which he describes as critical to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
asserted
he → ’ → weapon
It’s a little more.
asserted
It → ’ → ?
‘Gas prices matter,’ Republican strategist says
Despite what Trump says, there are few things that may matter more this election year than the price of a gallon of gasoline, according to political operatives in both parties.
uncertain
that → matter → parties
Gas prices are moving sharply in the wrong direction at a time of year when drivers typically get some relief.
asserted
drivers → move → relief
The national average for a gallon of gas reached US$4.48 on Friday, according to AAA, up roughly 17 cents over the last week, 40 cents in a month and $1.27 from a year ago.
uncertain
average → reach → month
“Gas prices matter because they’re one of the few economic indicators voters experience and see in real time,” said veteran Republican strategist Chris Wilson.
asserted
Wilson → matter → time
“The price is literally staring them in the face several times a week.
asserted
price → star → face
So I wouldn’t minimize the frustration we’re seeing, particularly among working- and middle-class voters.”
asserted
we → minimize → voters
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Interviews with voters this week found bipartisan frustration and disappointment.
asserted
Interviews → get → frustration
Democrats and independents were especially motivated to punish Republicans at the ballot box for their economic hardship, while some of Trump’s working-class supporters pledged to support Republicans this fall, even if they weren’t happy with the president’s leadership on the economy.
asserted
they → motivate → economy
Some Republicans say they’re disappointed
Dan Lloyd, who voted for Trump, lamented the president’s leadership as the 63-year-old carpenter paid $4.39 a gallon to fill up his pickup truck in Mesa, Arizona.
“He hurt himself stepping into this,” Lloyd said of Trump.
asserted
Lloyd → say → Trump
“Where’s all this oil from Venezuela?
asserted
oil → ’ → Venezuela
I thought we were flush with gas and everything, but no.
asserted
we → think → gas
The American people eat it every time, whether it’s interest rates, food, gasoline.”
asserted
it → eat → it
Still, he expects to vote Republican in the midterms.
asserted
he → expect → midterms
“I think the Democratic Party has lost its way,” Lloyd said.
asserted
Lloyd → think → way
“I just feel like the whole system’s on the verge of collapse.”
asserted
system → feel → collapse
In sweltering Edinburg, Texas, 52-year-old Kristin Jimenez shrugged off the rising price of gas after filling up her Mercedes.
asserted
Jimenez → shrug → Mercedes
“We’ve paid the same price under Republican presidents, we’ve paid this price under Democrat presidents,” said Jimenez, a mother who runs a small business.
asserted
who → pay → business
She plans to vote for a Republican in because they’re the “lesser of two evils.”
asserted
they → plan → evils
She said gas prices aren’t part of her calculation.
asserted
prices → say → calculation
“We don’t mind paying $8 for a cup of coffee at Starbucks, but we have a problem paying four bucks at the pump?” she said.
asserted
she → mind → pump
“Make it make sense.”
asserted
it → make → sense
More than 1,500 miles to the north in central Michigan, 35-year-old Garth Johnson is trying to make ends meet running a deep-cleaning business with several gas-powered vehicles and one machine fueled by diesel, which was $6.79 a gallon as he filled up his SUV.
asserted
he → try → SUV
Johnson voted for Trump, but doesn’t know what he’s going to do in November.
asserted
he → vote → November
Johnson doesn’t feel qualified to second-guess the president’s evaluation of the war, but he’s feeling financial pressure in his own life.
asserted
he → feel → life
“I like a lot of the things he’s done,” Johnson said, but added “I’m a little guy and I’ve got to live my life.”
Other voters are not so forgiving
Midterm voting was already underway on Friday in Virginia, where 60-year-old engineer Alan Johnson said Trump seems to have “no empathy” for Americans who are struggling financially.
asserted
who → like → Americans
…and 24 more, not listed.
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