The Politico:

“More Americans now view energy as a serious concern than at the low point of the 1979 energy crisis, according to a Politico analysis of historical Gallup Polls. And the percentage of voters who consider energy issues ‘very important’ in determining their vote has also risen dramatically since the last election, from 54 percent in October 2004 to 77 percent in a recent poll released by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press… Distress over gas prices could hardly come at a worse time for Republicans. Voters usually blame a poor economy on the party that controls the presidency, and there are few more potent reminders of hard economic times than the high cost of fuel at the pump. … Thus far, it’s McCain who has most suffered from that irritation. On an issue that three in four registered voters believe will be ‘very important,'” it is the Republicans who are taking the heat.

Now, I understand the theory that the party in power, the president, the executive gets the blame for all of these things. And the polling data in this story says that the Republicans are lagging Democrats by 15 points on energy, and McCain is even further behind the GOP than that.

If this poll is accurate, what it means is that those of us who want to increase supply are getting blamed. Well, now, if the American people actually knew who wants to increase supply — and by doing so, lower prices — then they would also find out who is standing in opposition of all that.

And it’s our old buddy Chris Matthews that doesn’t even know it’s going on, and all of his leftist buddies who are doing everything they can to attack and shut down the US economy and its growth. So the party that’s trying to do something about this — the people trying to do something about it, to increase production — are getting blamed for the problem when the problem exists primarily because of leftists, the last 30 years, who have done their best to shut down the domestic oil industry.

See post: Democrats, Media, and oil – what a party.

Now, the Republicans are not sitting back.

From the Cybercast News Service:

“As expected, gasoline prices keep rising, and Republicans are placing the blame squarely on the Democrat-led Congress. Republicans apparently see ‘pain at the pump’ as a key election issue. …

“House Republican leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) called it ‘insane’ that the Democrat-led Congress is still refusing to allow increased production of American energy. ‘Today marks another dubious day for this Do-Nothing Democratic Congress. On their watch, gas prices have soared to new heights, and by refusing to schedule a vote on a plan to increase American-made energy to help lower gas prices, congressional Democrats are complicit in this unprecedented surge in fuel costs,’ Boehner said on Sunday. … ‘Every American has a right to ask: What will it take for the Democrat-controlled Congress to finally take action and help ease the pain of the Pelosi Premium on behalf of struggling families and small businesses? Speaker Pelosi has the power to schedule a vote on our plan to begin breaking America’s costly dependence on foreign sources of energy. She should not wait another day to do so.'”

Republicans are putting this out.

Have you seen this anywhere? Have you seen this statement from Boehner? Before reading this, did you know the Republicans were on the warpath on this?

No. Because, as they often say, whatever they do will not get covered.