I will do my best not to judge here; it is not my intent.
Had I been able to extend this chart from the beginning of Bush's presidency, we would see that US average prices when he began in office was ~$1.65/gallon. Across his 8 years in office it consistently rose until its peak just before the 2008 election to ~$4.10/gallon, when crude oil fell precipitously from $147 to $37/barrel. One might remember this time as the world brinking economic collapse, Detroit at the door of the Fed seeking bailouts, and the oil industry, traded in a speculative market, reacting with a short-term collapse of crude prices.
The world didn't collapse, the 1 billion + cars continue to drive their streets, and prices rebounded. In this election year, this truth and history do not serve the Republican voter (of which I will be one). Rather, we blame the President for the world crude oil market, of which the U.S. accounts for ~22%.
It is rather cute.
President Obama can be blamed for many things (including a now-tested lack of leadership capacity), and he has failed to develop a national energy policy just as his many predecessors did. Each of these justifies his removal from office in a short while.
However, we would do well to be honest with ourselves and hopeful constituents and acknowledge that crude oil is a profitable industry in locations throughout the world with less regard for environmental conditions than the US Federal government (which is not the same voice as the citizens of said government). Prices have steadily risen across TIME, which happens to include the presidential terms of both Bush and Obama. They will continue to rise (relative to inflation) through our next presidential term, be that Obama or Romney, as the industrial growth rate and increases in worldwide standard of living exceeds the US inflation rate.
There are national choices that effect this situation (that can be adjudged elsewhere), and it would be a pleasure if some form of leadership took root in Washington. But the days of $1.78/gallon are history, and would only return under dire economic circumstances that would cause more heartache than said gasoline savings would justify.
