The October Surprise of 2022 has arrived, from an unexpected source — as surprises tend to do.
Led by Russia and Saudi Arabia, the oil-producing cartel OPEC and its partners announced on Wednesday it will slash oil production by 2 million barrels a day, which will not merely reverse the steady decline in prices at the pump since early summer but, combined with the usual profiteering by Big Oil, likely cause those prices to soar and reignite inflation. That would be expected to hurt Democrats' chances — and thereby American democracy's chances — in the midterm elections just over a month away.
