5 years later, more still blame Bush for economy than Obama

The latest poll from Gallup finds that Americans are still more likely to blame today's economic woes on former President George W. Bush than President Barack Obama, despite Obama now serving his second term in office:

About a third of Americans, 35%, assign a high degree of blame to Bush alone for current economic problems, about double the percentage blaming solely Obama (19%). Another 34% blame both, while 11% say neither is highly to blame.

While Bush has been out of office for four and a half years, the near fiscal collapse that occurred on Wall Street at the tail end of his presidency precipitated sharp declines in consumer attitudes about the economy that only recently recovered to levels approaching what they were previously. Underscoring this, just prior to Obama taking office in December 2008, 60% of Americans described the situation as "the biggest economic crisis the U.S. has faced" in their lifetimes.