motivation probably money. price per barrel which was over $120 in march by late september dipped below 80. and it also seems designed to help russia which has been hurt by sanctions since its invasion of ukraine and heavily depends on its oil profits. surely, opec plus knew the move would also impact america s election which is just a month away. when joe biden took office the national gas average was $2.39 a gallon by this summer, it more than doubled, $5. even higher in california, and his popularity plummeted. and then in the wake of the supreme court overturning roe versus wade on june 24th, the democrats have been getting more hopeful signs about the midterms, maybe hoping to hold on to the senate and a slim chance to keep the house which many attributed to abortion rights and that issue. but could the real issue be something else, as nate cohen suggested in the new york times this week isn t st. the gas price, stupid? cohen pointed out ten days before the issue on ab
regions same for ashton region in ohio. farmington, norristown, tennessee, muncie, indiana, so on, you get the picture. on a national level, with the post labels the trumpest fifth of the country, counties where trump received 63.3% of the two-party vote in the last presidential election, 33% of the restaurants in that area, chains. while in the least trumpy fifth, where he received less than 32.1% chains comprise only 23% of the local restaurants. what accounts for the large disparity? joining me is andrew van dam, washington post columnist in its department of data. thank you for providing me great fodder on radio. because i read your column aloud, everyone had an opinion. here s one, a caller said conservatives like consistency. so when they go to mcdonald s or taco bell, they know what they re getting and it s like comfort food.
a bank of america company. the data is clear, but not the explanation. turns out places that support donald trump tend to have the most franchise food restaurants. the question is why. trying to find out, my next guest, the washington post s andrew van damme drilled down on the findings of a recent study based on research of a marketing data firm. the study includes some 400 businesses qualifies as chain restaurants everything from applebee ace cracker barrel, as
many readers so far, i bet you have heard that, too. i have. that people believe it s because commuters spend more time listening to rush limbaugh or mike reagan, so they re politics tend to resemble those folks. it s a fascinating study. it reminds me of david wasserman who has done an analysis of cracker barrel and whole foods voters. i cite his work on radio and when i give speeches because he has seen a pattern pertaining to the communities that have one or the other. they don t often build in the same place. final thought from you, andrew? that driving really does explain this. but we see this across any driving related variable. it can even be walkability. or drivability of an area, or proximity to a highway. because highways and chain restaurants have a long and storied relationship in america. andrew van dam, thank you for being here, really a great