According to the WP:
Top House Democrat Nancy Pelosi sent letters to party members asking them to hold at least one event in their home districts over the Memorial Day holiday recess at the end of this month to discuss high energy prices, according to a letter obtained by Reuters.
This is a big mistake, one that the Rethugs are just waiting for the Democratic Party to make. While people blame Bushco for the price of oil, the will also give him some credit when the price goes down. And the price of gasoline, which is all that most people are aware of, will go down by November.
First, the price of gasoline will decline in the Fall because it is not peak driving season and the price will decline relative to the higher summer prices that people will remember.
Secondly, and most importantly, Bush can manipulate gasoline prices in the short term if he so chooses, and he will choose to do so in the run up to the November elections. He can release oil from the Strategic Reserves so that there is more gasoline avaliable to the refineries, driving down the price. His friends at Exxon, et. al can manipulate the price by refining more gasoline from crude. And there is always simple price fixing.
Of course, these tactics will only work to affect the price of gasoline for a couple of weeks, at most, but that is all they need. October is too early for much of the country to be paying attention to heating oil prices, which may rise because of decresed production.So what if the price of gasoline skyrockets after Nov. 7, the Rethugs will be sitting pretty for another two years.