WASHINGTON — It won't be a rerun of the 1970s, when long lines at the gasoline pumps spelled big trouble for politicians, but soaring gasoline prices are expected to become a serious issue in the 2000 election campaign by early summer.
Although the topic still hasn't heated up in either the presidential or congressional races, the White House and political candidates in both parties are bracing for a brouhaha over gasoline prices, beginning in late May and intensifying throughout the following few months.
The two major parties already have begun gearing up to exploit the issue. Congressional Republicans are blaming the Clinton administration--and Vice President Al Gore--contending that they did not do enough to spur more domestic production, thus leaving America vulnerable.
Congressional Republicans already have called for repeal of the 4.3-cent-a-gallon rise in the federal gasoline tax enacted in a 1993 White House budget deal, and GOP presidential front-runner George W. Bush reportedly is considering that. Democrat Gore opposes the move.
Even the White House has been jittery. Earlier this month, President Clinton raised the possibility that he might flood the market with crude oil from the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve, despite assertions by his Energy secretary that such a move would be ill-advised.
"Both sides are filling up their ideological fuel tanks," said Marshall Wittmann, political analyst for the conservative-oriented Heritage Foundation. "Everyone is anticipating that it will become a big issue in the summer."
To be sure, the political heat from higher oil prices has been surprisingly mild so far. Earlier this month, truckers staged protests over the rising cost of diesel fuel. Before that, some homeowners in New England complained about soaring prices of home heating oil.
Nevertheless, while gasoline prices have soared throughout the country, voters have been docile. Analysts say the economy is so good that drivers don't feel the pinch. There still are no shortages--or long lines at the pumps--such as those that fueled the backlash in the 1970s.
Gas Prices Expected to Surpass $2 a Gallon
But pundits say the pain--and the howling--are likely to become decidedly more evident by summer, when gasoline prices nationally whiz past the $2-a-gallon mark--they're already there in San Francisco--inflation intensifies and airline fares rise sharply.
