Off-the-charts gas price hikes are a big problem for Democrats

The 1970 and 1978 midterm cycles featured inflation rates above 6% at this point, but the White House party kept its House losses at 15 seats or fewer.

Again, though, we’re dealing with something that is on the outer edges of what we’ve seen historically. I’m not sure we really know how voters will react.

Indeed, the way Americans feel about the economy as a whole is something without a lot of historical analogies.

Gallup’s latest poll shows that 85% of Americans view the economy as either in fair or poor shape. That’s the highest level in any Gallup measurement since April 2012.

The only other midterm since 1994 when so many Americans thought the economy was just fair or poor was 2010 — and the White House party (Democrats) lost 63 seats and the House majority that year.