Poll: Majority of Americans don't blame Obama for economy

[ProSense]

Poll: Majority of Americans don't blame Obama for economy

By Daniel Strauss

Roughly two-thirds of registered voters say the country's current economic conditions are something President Obama inherited rather than caused, according to a new poll.

According to the McClatchy-Marist poll released Friday, 59 percent of registered voters say that the country's economic conditions are mostly something Obama inherited, while 33 percent say that they are the result of Obama's policies.

Broken down by party affiliation, 80 percent of Democrats say the current economic climate is something Obama inherited and 17 percent say it is a result of his policies. Thirty-three percent of of Republicans say Obama inherited the current economic conditions and 59 percent say Obama's policies has made the economy what it is today.

While the poll's general findings are good news for Obama, especially after a week of dramatic fluctuations in the Dow, the finding that 59 percent of voters think Obama inherited the country's current economic conditions rather than caused them is the lowest in the poll's findings since September 2010. The highest percentage was when the poll was taken April 27, 2009, when McClatchy-Marist found that 80 percent of voters felt the country's economic conditions were something Obama inherited.

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Wow, 33 percent of Republicans!

[Andy823]

1. If republicans keep on track

If the keep on trying to get the radical right votes from the crazies, AKA tea party, by attacking the government, going after SS and medicare, cutting programs for seniors, the poor, veterans, education, etc., they may get the brain dead tea party voters, but the majority of the rest of the country are going to be really upset with them. Now some may not vote for a democrat, but they just might stay home, while others who have been hit hard by the republicans trying to bust unions, lay off public employes so they can privatize everything, will vote for democrats in order to keep the programs that help the people who need help and not just the rich who the republicans seem think are the number one priority!

[Tarheel_Dem]

2. I think some Republicans are trying to distance themselves from the nuts in their party.

Unfortunately, the extremes get all the attention, and moderate voices don't stand a chance in today's environment. Thirty three (33%) percent is no small number. :hi:

[Scurrilous]

3. K & R

:thumbsup:

[tridim]

4. I don't understand why this question is polled.

It is a FACT that he inherited this mess. No poll is necessary, just report the facts MSM.

[fujiyama]

8. It's like asking whether a person "believes" in the evolution

Evolution happens and is constantly happening, whether a man in a funny costume on Sunday told you it did or not.

[Thav]

5. Which means it's all Obama's fault

naturally. The GOP seems to take everything that is contrary to their position and either believes the exact opposite or disregards it completely.

After all, it's Obama's fault that no one likes republicans anymore. Just ask the GOP chair.

[Igel]

6. Such polls are always interesting.

For example, more think the economy is "mostly because" of Obama's policies than they did in 01/11, but in 01/11 fewer thought it was "mostly because" of Obama's policies than in 9/10. The swing is 5-10%.

Such polls are always less revealing than they appear: They're short, ambiguously worded, and subject to large amounts of non-calculable error.

So the poll has and always has had a significant gap, one that reflects a very specific assumption. The choices are "inherited" or "mostly a result of (Obama's) policies". Barring really significant calamities, I don't think the president has that much of an effect on the economy, and I suspect a non-trivial percentage of the unyielding "inherited" group falls into the same category I do. The assumption in the poll is that the present economy can be laid at the feet of a single president--and that the assumption that 3 minutes after inauguration the president somehow is involved in creating and destroying jobs, working out contracts, dealing with pension negotiations, regulating the size and shape of widgets and setting their prices is quite ludicrous. (Personally, I think Bernanke has more say than Geithner, and Geithner largely sets policy simply because Obama really doesn't understand more about every policy than every one of his advisors and cabinet folk. I think he does, and that's a bad thing in a leader.)

Saying Obama inherited the economy is different from saying his policies are good. It's saying that he's not as important as many desperately need him to be to keep their egos and self-opinion healthy.

[Marsala]

7. Just wait until Obama's officially running against a Republican Texas governor

He won't even have to say "Bush".

[CitizenLeft]

9. there's that 33% again...

...same dumbasses over and over again.

[Enthusiast]

10. I don't blame Obama for the economy.

And yet I refuse to vote for him.

[indepat]

11. Just like the wars, a continuation of junior's fiscal and tax policies, concomitant with caving to

the Republicans' irrational and destructive whims (huge spending cuts and no new taxes), will result in BHO owning this puppy which will be hung around his political neck like a millstone. :patriot:

Edited for proper verb

[otohara]

12. Consistency On This Question, Gives Me Hope

American's aren't entirely clueless.
30%+ are clueless, stubborn and will always be.