Big Freddy was mopping his forehead with his oversized handkerchief as he joined me for coffee.
"Hot enough for you?" I asked.
"Now there's an interesting hello — did you think it up yourself, or are you taking night courses?" he asked.
"Enough," I said. "I was reading about the price of oil and gas this winter, and you come in looking lobster red."
"Gas and oil in the tank, or gas or oil in your stove?" he asked.
"Both," I said, "because New England's not Palm Beach."
"And we go to the polls in November," Freddy said.
"And you are going to tell me why the one is connected to the other," I said.
"They are," Freddy said. "New England loves Obama. It loves Democrats. It used to love Republicans, but that was back just after the last Ice Age. The gas and oil shortage? What shortage? Everybody knows speculators have driven the price almost out of sight."
"Sarcasm does not become you," I said.
"Some," Freddy said. "But look, this campaign used to be about getting out of Iraq. That's still out there, but not even Obama believes we can just pack up and come home. He did, but that was then. This is now, and what's now is dumping real money into our gas tanks and prices at the supermarket to put food on the table at prices up the bazzoo."
"And with people driving less, and sales of scooters and pellet stoves almost out of sight," I said.
"Fuel is fuel," Freddy said, "and oil and gas will set the price hikes for everything else. Cheaper transportation? Get a scooter, but don't plan to use it when the temperature drops or the roads are slick. You want to stay warm this winter, live in the kitchen. Put bricks in the oven to take to bed to keep your feet warm. Invest in long johns and goose down blankets."
"Enough with the exaggeration," I said. "The market will make its adjustments over the next several months."
"The market is not just the US of A," Freddy said. "The market's everywhere. Oil is the new gold. Others can dig for it. Arabs can dig. Russia and others can wherever it is, but not us."
"Knock it off, Freddy," I said. "The environmental movement is for everyone's benefit, and you know it."
"I am not being sarcastic," Freddy said. "Realistic. The point is this: The war's no longer the issue. It's out there like the weather. The economy is for real. Jobs are. The cost of living is. Trying to get from here to there to work is what it's all about for most.
"But there's the bigger picture. Car sales are in the pits. Jobs are disappearing. It isn't just that gas prices are going up. So is everything else. Food costs are going to go up a lot more before this is over. It isn't just that we're trying to use grain products to replace gas at the pump. It's because we have to use diesel as well as gasoline to get it to the stores, and then to bring it from the stores to our kitchens. We've been on an oil and gasoline binge for years, and there's no way we can shift to alternative energy over the short haul."
"Which others have been saying over and over," I said, "but if you mention nuclear energy, it's not just a no-no, it's a NO! No! No!"
"But that's down the road anyway," Freddy said. "What's real between here and November are all the gas fill-ups at the pump.
"The economy is what this election is going to be about. We're in it big time, and there's going to be more heat than somewhat not only until the election, but for as long as it takes for us to face what's real when it's over."
Bill Plante is former executive editor of Essex County Newspapers. His e-mail address is plantejr@comcast.net.
