It is how human psychology works. Fuel prices are something people are confronted with on a regular bases and they are a direct expensive, easy to understand, in the moment.

You can’t logic people out of situations they didn’t use logic to get thenselves into in the first place. They based everything on feels, feels that wouldn’t contradict their ideology. And at the upper levels projection took over and “do unto others before they do unto you” became the rule in a power grab.

"It's the economy, stupid."

The rest of the economic woes are boiling the frog slowly, and have been inflicted during both parties being in power.

Large sudden swings in an unavoidable day to day resource that costs over a hundred a week are harder to miss.