The Economy Blame Game

From the article, Poll: 51% still blame Bush for economy: 

While Republicans have pushed to cast the sputtering economy as Obama's fault, Americans place their blame elsewhere. Fifty-one percent say that George W. Bush is most to blame for the down economy, while 31 percent say it's Obama.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0811/62038.html#ixzz1W2W8AOdF

 

Any gloating Democrats need to be very careful, though, as the other findings are not good news for Obama, or the country. The post goes on to say:

 

With the economy struggling, Obama continues to get low marks for his handling of it. Sixty-three percent of Americans say they disapprove of his handling of the economy, including 48 percent say they “strongly” disapprove. Just 36 percent say they approve of his handling of the economy, the lowest it’s ever been in this poll.

 

Even in the depths of one of the worst political summers ever, 47% of those polled say that Obama deserves a second term  and 51% say that Obama is a strong leader (down from 65% after the killing of Osama bin Laden. Essentially, there are no great numbers here for Obama, but he needs to seize the narrative in the fall if he is to make any headway against what is sure to be a withering Republican attack on his policies.