They don't have to propose anything. They never do anyway. I believe they'll stay just as negative as usual.
But they can pin the entire problem on Bush and the Republicans. And this isn't a problem that the Republicans can just "spin". It's real, it hits every American in their dearest possession, the wallet.
All the Democrats have to do is insinuate that the Republicans' "Saudi connections" and ties to big business (they can point out the big tax break oil companies receive in the latest budget), are somehow connected to the rise in gas prices.
Even if those aren't the real reasons behind the increase, they sure sound plausible to a lot of people. And since Bush isn't SAYING anything (much less doing anything), it's real easy for people to believe the worst.
People deserve an explanation.
Yeah, I don't know how much longer he can keep this approach up.
Demand for gas in the U.S. is still growing, despite the cost. When demand starts to decrease, I'll be more concerned.
I'm less worried about prices at the pump for my car (thank you Honda!) and truck (not so lucky) than I am about the inflationary effect on the economy as a whole but I don't think that most people make the connection.
As far as the Dems go, hell didn't we want to go into Iraq so we could get cheap oil? That was the canard for at least of couple of years. Now it's profits for Haliburton. Tomorrow it will be for something else. I don't think anyone is listening to them.
Not much that W can do at this point anyway for the short haul. If you believe in the free market, there isn't much explanation needed. If he tried to stand up and say that oil prices were up because of the relation of world supply and demand and a probably a shift to the right in the demand curve because of the change in the Chinese economy and possibly a shift in the supply curve caused by terror considerations of AG nations, half of the country would be asleep and the other half would still be yelling Haliburton!
I'm not saying that I know the exact cause (and depending on your school of economics, whether anyone knows as a science) but I'm fairly certain there isn't a sound bite explanation for it.