51% Still Blame Bush for Nation's Economic Woes
Sunday, January 10, 2009
As the nation's unemployment rate remains stubbornly high, 51% of voters nationwide continue to believe that the economic woes can still be blamed on Administration of George W. Bush. A Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just 41% hold the opposite view and believe the policies of Barack Obama are to blame.
Those figures are unchanged from a month ago . While 85% of Democrats blame Bush and 70% of Republicans blame Obama, unaffiliated voters are more evenly divided. Forty-six percent (46%) blame Bush and 42% blame Obama.
Ninety-six percent (96%) of those in the Political Class blame Bush.
Sixty-two percent (62%) trust their own judgment on economic issues more than the President's. Twenty-seven percent (27%) have more confidence in the President rather than their own judgment.
A plurality of Democrats (47%) have more confidence in the President. Eighty-three percent (83%) of Republicans and 68% of unaffiliated voters hold the opposite view.
Earlier polling showed that just 24% have confidence that Congress knows what it's doing when it comes to the economy. Forty-five percent (45%) believe that people randomly selected from the phone book would do a better job than the current Congress .
These figures come as 38% believe the economy will be stronger in a year while 39% expect it to be weaker. Fifty percent (50%) believe the economy will still be in a recession when 2010 comes to an end .
Pessimism is also growing about how long it will take the housing market to recover as 65% believe it will take at least three years .
As concerns about the economy grow, 75% of Republicans say their leaders in Congress are out of touch with the party's base.
Democrats are much happier with their elected politicians-- 54% of Democrats say their party's representatives in Congress do a good job representing the party's values.
Overall, just 12% say that Congress is doing a good or an excellent job while 58% say poor.
Most Republicans believe that the average Republican in Congress is more liberal than the average Republican voter.
Democrats tend to see their party's representatives in Congress as more in line with the ideology of Democratic voters.