Most Still Blame Bad Economy on Bush-era Recession

A majority (51%) of voters still blames the nation’s current economic problems on the recession that began under President George W. Bush rather than the economic policies of President Obama.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of Likely U.S. Voters shows that 43% think Obama's policies are more to blame for the poor state of the economy. (To see survey question wording, click here.)        

These findings are nearly identical to those found in August and are generally consistent with findings stretching back for over two years. In surveys since May 2009, despite voter unhappiness with specific Obama policies, problems stemming from the Bush era are seen as more to blame for the overall condition of the economy. 

Sixty-one percent (61%) now say they trust their own economic judgment more than the current president’s, down from August’s high of 65%. Prior to that survey, this finding has ranged from 49% to 63% since Obama took office in January 2009.

Twenty-four percent (24%) of voters trust Obama’s economic judgment more than their own. Another 15% are undecided. Since Obama took office, the number of voters who trust his economic judgment more than their own has ranged from a low of 24% to a high of 39%.

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The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted on October 2-3, 2011 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.