Obama is doomed – again

THE PATTERN should be predictable by now. Obama was doomed after Hillary’s upset primary win in New Hampshire (she works for him now). Obama was doomed as the health care fight dragged on (he made history signing the bill). Obama was doomed if he didn’t plug the hole from the BP oil spill (Armageddon was averted and he made BP pay cash upfront). Obama was doomed after the “shellacking” in last year’s midterm elections (made moot by historic wins in the lame duck session). Obama was doomed if he didn’t invade Libya (he wisely got NATO to do our bidding instead). So, what’s the latest, pundit-driven, doomsday scenario for the president? Gas prices. Obama is DOOMED if prices reach $5 or $6 dollars a gallon. “If people have to keep paying more and more to fill their cars up, the president could lose re-election—even to one of the current batch of Republicans. There's evidence, circumstantial but graphically compelling, that the president's current poll numbers are a function of the price of gas,” writes Slate’s David Weigel. Oh please. Until proven otherwise, I’ll presume the American people – irrespective of party – are simply not that stupid.