Fifty days before the midterm elections, the White House finds itself in the uncomfortable position of watching oil prices rise while holding few tools capable of reversing them. Gas prices, that most visceral of economic indicators, have a way of translating global market forces into deeply personal political judgments at the ballot box. The administration's frustration speaks to a timeless tension in democratic governance: leaders are held accountable for conditions they did not create and cannot fully control. What happens at the pump may yet determine what happens in Congress.