The problem: Oil and gasoline prices are so volatile that before you can call a press conference at your local Exxon, costs may be back on the rise.

"It's really dangerous to tell voters that you can control gas prices, because you can't," said Ryan Fitzpatrick, an analyst with Third Way.

It's a far cry from the messaging when gas prices were nearing or above $4 per gallon and Republicans were lining up to blame the White House and call for everything from increased drilling to a gas-tax holiday just to keep prices down. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle had press conferences at local gasoline stations to blame the other side. The House Natural Resources Committee even compiled a year-by-year timeline of "roadblocks" that were keeping prices high.

Now, gas prices are averaging just a shade more than $2 a gallon, a six-year low according to AAA.

Not that either side can take too much credit anyway—as U.S. lawmakers often remind people, oil is a world commodity.

The president ultimately has little influence over gas prices. The only power Obama really has is to raise or lower domestic production on public land, but even that is nary a blip in the complex global oil marketplace. It's shale development on private land that has largely helped production boom at home.

The other side of the equation—global demand—also is out of the White House's hands. When OPEC refuses to cut production even in light of flagging demand, there's an oversupply that keeps prices down, but it has little to do with any U.S. action.

Likewise, even though Republicans have vociferously supported the private sector, there's little that they did to directly contribute to the industry's growth. Although the House passed a flurry of bills on energy production—many of them under the header of lowering gas prices—none cleared the Democratic-controlled Senate in the last Congress.

Meanwhile, government and industry predictions say prices will go back up. The Energy Information Administration projects gas prices will average just $2.33 a gallon in 2015 and $2.72 the following year, but numbers that low were unthinkable a month ago.

Industry predictions are all over the map. BP CEO Bob Dudley said prices will stay low for up to three years, while OPEC Secretary General Abdalla El-Badri said prices are likely to stay where they are, but will rebound in time. Former Shell Oil president John Hofmeister told USA Today that $4/gallon prices were likely to return in the election year of 2016, but could go even higher.

"Over the next several years, as demand growth approaches 100 million barrels a day and the industry production falls short, yes, I believe later this decade we'll see $5 a gallon and possible shortages of fuel in some parts of the world," Hofmeister said.

There are also potential downsides of the price slide. Several major oil companies have been cutting rigs and drilling sites, and with them jobs. This week, for example, Baker Hughes announced it would cut 7,000 jobs and Halliburton said it would make cuts in line with its competitors.