GOP rolls out voter registration push at gas stations

Republicans have launched a series of voter registration drives at gas stations in different parts of the country in a bid to draw attention to an issue they see as a political liability for President Biden heading into the November midterm elections.

The Republican National Committee (RNC) began the effort on Saturday with voter registration drives in Arizona and North Carolina. The party is planning to expand the campaign to other states such as California, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Maine, Ohio, Texas and Wisconsin.

The cost of gas has risen for some time due to the coronavirus pandemic and disruptions to global supply and demand, but prices soared after Biden moved to ban imports of Russian oil and gas amid that country’s invasion of Ukraine.

While the spike in gas prices isn’t limited to the United States, Republicans have sought to cast the rising costs as a direct result of Biden’s policies.

“The Biden Gas Hike is a product of his own doing, and Americans have faced record high gas prices as a result,” RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said.

“The RNC is mobilizing at gas stations across the country to register voters and remind folks that the anti-American energy of Biden and the Democrats is costing them more.”

While experts say the spike in gas prices is due to a multitude of factors — and prices have eased somewhat in recent days — the RNC’s voter registration drives signal that the party will try to make the rising gas prices a pivotal issue in this year’s midterms.

The GOP needs to gain just five seats in the House and one seat in the Senate in November to recapture full control of Congress. Democrats, meanwhile, are facing historical headwinds this year after winning the White House and Senate majority in 2020.

While sitting presidents often get at least some blame when gas prices rise, a recent Yahoo News-YouGov poll found that only 30 percent of voters believe that Biden would be responsible if prices continue to go up.

Twenty-three percent said they would place the blame on oil and gas companies, while another 19 percent said that Russia would deserve the blame.