Americans continue to place more blame for the country’s ongoing economic problems on former President George W. Bush than on President Barack Obama, according to a Gallup Poll released Thursday.
Bush has been out of office for nearly 3½ years. But the poll, conducted between June 7 and June 10, suggests that 68 percent of Americans blame their country’s 43rd President a “great deal” or “moderate amount” for persistent economic woes.
The poll did not reveal the brightest news for the White House’s incumbent either. Just over half of voters — 52 percent — believe that Obama is at least partially liable as well.
Roughly 49 percent of Republicans said that Bush was greatly or moderately accountable for today’s fiscal troubles, and 51 percent said he was not. About 19 percent of Democrats blame Obama for the current distress, while 81 percent call his role minimally destructive, a statistic that has remained virtually unchanged since his January 2009 inauguration.
Of the nation’s four living ex-presidents, Bush is the least popular, according to a CNN survey released last week. Although Romney is currently gaining ground in recent presidential polls, some of the former Massachusetts governor’s closest campaign aides have lengthy pasts with the Bush administration. Top veep pick Rob Portman, currently representing the battleground state of Ohio in the U.S. Senate, was the director of Office of Management and Budget from 2006-07. Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels held that same position during Bush’s first three years in office. To be sure: These associations could nullify Romney’s current edge come November.
