Is a Kamala-crisis imminent? A survey says that’s possible, with oil and gas policies from the last few years to blame.
New polling of seven swing states shows the Biden-Harris administration’s energy policies could crimp the vice president’s electoral hopes in November — and the former president’s ability to bring cheap gas to American pumps may be a winning message down the stretch.
The battleground state survey, which Morning Consult conducted for the American Petroleum Institute, finds voters drawing a direct connection between the high cost of living and impractical energy and environmental guidelines courtesy of the Democrats in the White House.
“The U.S. continues to be a global leader in energy production, but the American people recognize that our leaders in Washington must advance an agenda to grow our nation’s energy advantage for decades to come,” API President and CEO Mike Sommers said. “With geopolitical tensions rising and inflation remaining a top concern, we need policies that reinforce the role of American energy on the world stage and support access to the affordable, reliable energy consumers need.”
The polling data show inflation is a massive issue across Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, as affirmed by 91% to 94% of voters in all seven states.
Previous polling has shown nearly 60% of Americans blame the administration for increasing inflation.
Vice President Kamala Harris is rolling out plans to repair what her administration has done, but former President Donald Trump says her “ Maduro plan,” which includes a proposal to fix grocery prices, is “like something out of Venezuela or the former Soviet Union.”
But this poll indicates voters know lowering gas prices is essential to reduce the cost of living, suggesting the California Democrat may need to read the room better in the battlegrounds where this election will be decided or risk losing the race due to an inauthentic message at odds with what voters experience in the Biden-Harris economy.
Consider this: At least 80% of people in all seven states polled “agree that producing more oil and natural gas here in the U.S. could help lower energy and utility costs for American consumers,” per API. The high-water mark is Georgia’s 88%.
In must-win states like Pennsylvania, where 85% say to “drill, baby, drill,” Harris’ previous opposition to fracking doesn’t sit well. And the teleprompter speech has yet to offer a defense of her unpopular policy position from when she ran unsuccessfully for president in 2020.
Indeed, swing voters want energy independence, per this survey, with four out of every five saying they “support leveraging America’s domestic resources rather than relying on other regions of the world.”
This includes a staggering 89% of Michiganders, many of whom remember the Trump administration showcasing the Wolverine State as an “incubator” of an “all-of-the-above” energy strategy abandoned by the Democratic incumbent’s team.
And it’s not just about cheap supply. It’s also about national security.
More than four out of every five voters in all states surveyed believe energy security is key to holding America’s enemies at bay, including 91% in Georgia, 89% in Arizona and 88% in North Carolina who believe “producing oil and natural gas here in America helps make our country more secure against foreign adversaries.”
The Biden administration has broken with historic best practice regarding energy, failing to restock storage in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve while releasing stock from it this summer not due to an emergency but whim and political expediency. Of course, that kind of fast-shuffle may not have been necessary if President Biden hadn’t moved to put the kibosh on the Keystone XL oil pipeline.
Voters are also rejecting the Biden administration’s electric-vehicle mandates and moves to phase out petroleum engines, and just like with the rest of the survey, the numbers are compelling, particularly in the blue-wall states Harris must win.
Eighty percent of Michiganders, 78% of Wisconsinites and 77% of Pennsylvanians say they “oppose government mandates that restrict consumer choice, including banning new gasoline, diesel and hybrid vehicles.”
