I am utterly convinced that the major driver in politics is the price of gasoline

[Decoy of Fenris]

7. "The Economy" is almost always the driver of any given vote.

Without financial security and stability, you can't expect people to care about other more nuanced issues. You think someone who lives paycheck to paycheck with two jobs, struggling to find out what to eat next, gives a shit about wind-power or refugees or social justice? They're going to vote for what makes their lives easier.

It's just a political representation of the Hierarchy of Needs: People won't vote for anything that doesn't directly impact their current "Level" on the hierarchy. The worse the economy, the more "basic" the voter. Right now the economy's shit, inflation's bonkers, gas is through the roof and basic food and goods prices are spiked. That tends to happen regardless of party in charge. Unfortunately, Democrats are going to reap that particularly rotten harvest unless it gets addressed before 2022, I think.