Americans Blame Bush More Than Obama

By Tim Mak, Politico

14 June 12

mericans continue to place more blame for the country’s ongoing economic problems on former President George W. Bush than on President Barack Obama, a new survey shows.

Though Bush has been out of office for nearly 3½ years, 68 percent blame him a “great deal” or “moderate amount” for the nation’s economic woes, according to a Gallup Poll released Thursday. Meanwhile, 52 percent of Americans believe the same about Obama.

There exists a partisan divide on who blames who for the current economic distress but Republicans are more willing to blame Bush than Democrats are willing to blame Obama.

In fact, 49 percent of Republicans said Bush was greatly or moderately responsible for America’s economic woes, compared with 51 percent who said he wasn’t. On the other hand, 19 percent of Democrats blame Obama for the current distress, while 81 percent say he is “not much” or “not at all” responsible.

Obama’s share of the blame has been relatively steady over the past three years: since 2010, 48 percent to 53 percent of Americans have blamed him for the economic problems facing the United States.

Further, the percentage of those who blame Bush for current economic problems dropped from 80 percent in July 2009 to around 70 percent in August 2010 - and the figure has been relatively stable ever since.

Bush’s continued unpopularity - he was recently polled as the least popular living ex-president - may have an impact on the 2012 presidential race, since some of the potential running mates for GOP candidate Mitt Romney are deeply tied to Bush, who served in the White House from 2001-09.

For example, Ohio Sen. Rob Portman was the director of Office of Management and Budget from 2006-07; Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels held the same position from 2001-03. And of course, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush is George W. Bush’s brother.

The Gallup Poll was conducted June 7-10, with a sample of 1,004 adults and a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.