WI swing voters

An article in today's Boston Globe looks at swing voters in Wisconsin, a state I visited this past weekend:

GREEN BAY, Wisc.

Because of the cost of gasoline, the Nikolai family drove only once this summer to their favorite fishing spot up north in Tomahawk. The summer before, they went four or five times. "It breaks my heart because it's like a summer lost to share the things I want to share with my boys," said Ron, whose sons are 15 and 10. "We caught over 200 panfish; crappies, bluegills and perch. It's God's country up there. If I died in Tomahawk, I'd die a happy man."

Let's think about this. The drive from Green Bay to Tomahawk is about 270 miles round trip. Given that these are highway miles, let's assume that the vehicle you are driving gets 25mpg -- or roughly 11 gallons per trip. According to wisconsingasprices.com the average cost of unleaded gas for this past summer was about $4/gallon, or roughly $44 per round trip to Tomahawk. During summer 2007 gas prices were about $3/gallon, or $33 per round trip.

So you can't afford to make a trip because of an extra $11? Really?