Poll: George W. Bush still gets blamed for economic woes
Nearly two years after Barack Obama was elected president, Americans still are inclined to blame his predecessor for the nation's current economic problems.
In a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll taken Friday through Sunday, more than a third of those surveyed said George W. Bush deserved a great deal of the blame for economic woes and a third said he should get a moderate amount of it. Not quite another third called that unfair, saying he warranted not much or none of the responsibility.
The 71% saying Bush should get blamed was a modest decline from the 80% who felt that way about a year ago, in July 2009.
What about President Obama?
In the July 2009 poll, a third, 32%, said he should shoulder a great deal or moderate amount of the blame. That percentage has risen -- no surprise, given that he's been in office for 20 months. Now almost half, 48%, do. But 51% say he's dealing with problems he inherited, not created, saying he deserves not much or none of the responsibility for economic problems that include high unemployment and a faltering housing market.
There was, predictably, a yawning partisan divide on the question. Republicans by 4-1, 44%-10%, were more likely to give Obama a great deal of the blame than Bush. Democrats by more than 20-1 targeted Bush: They said the former president bore a great deal of the blame; just 3% said that of the current one.
The survey of 1,021 adults, taken by landline and cell phone, has a margin of error of +/-4 percentage points. |
