Gas prices at national low

Gas prices were all over the evening news with stories on CBS and NBC tonight. CBS reported that the national average of gas prices today is $2.23 a gallon, the lowest it has been since last Christmas. The Department of Energy came up with this number, which is $.81 lower than numbers in August.

CBS reporter Anthony Mason questions the correlation between lower prices at the pump and President Bush's popularity. Several citizens that were interviewed said they believe that if the economy is good, people will be swayed to vote Republican. While some are labeled conspiracy theorists for having this belief, it is not unreasonable to question why gas prices have suddenly dropped at such a time in the political world.

NBC Evening News also covered the drop in gas prices and one woman agrees, "It's pretty convenient now that elections are coming up." Reporter Kerry Sanders did a road trip story for NBC in which he drove from Massachusetts to Maine, documenting gas prices and people's thoughts on the drop in costs. One family stated that it was too expensive to travel this summer and now that fuel costs have dropped, they have more money to spend on weekend trips.

Sanders reported that he spent $43.44 on his road trip; a figure that would have been almost $60 if he went in the summer.