Blame Game Remains The Same

For the first time in a CNN poll, a majority of Americans assign at least partial blame of the economic mess we're in to President Obama, but a larger majority still holds Bush responsible.

When asked how much responsibility Obama bears for the economy's conditions, about 53 percent blamed Obama either a great deal or a moderate amount. That number is up from the roughly 32 percent who gave the same answer six months after Obama took office in 2009.


The poll results come two weeks after Obama announced his jobs plan, a $447 billion proposal aimed at jumpstarting job growth.

But in the public's eye, Bush shoulders more of the burden when it comes to the economy, with nearly seven in 10 Americans blaming the former president either a great deal or a moderate amount. That number is down from 80 percent who assigned fault to Bush six months after he finished his second term in 2009.

The stronger blame on Bush mirrors results from a CNN/ORC International Poll in late July. When asked to choose whether Obama and the Democrats or Bush and the Republicans were more responsible for the country's current economic problems, about 57 percent chose Bush, while 29 percent picked Obama. 

It's not great news for President Obama, but it's not fatal, either.  If anything, the person this poll hurts is Rick Perry.  The last thing Americans want is another George W Bush right now.  For the same reason, this poll may help Mitt Romney.

Most of all, it shows that the Republican plan to block all efforts to improve the economy and blame President Obama when nothing gets better continues to pay off for them as a whole.