Times poll: 75% blame Bush's policies for deteriorating economy
Three out of four Americans, including large numbers of Republicans, blame President Bush's economic policies for making the country worse off during the last eight years, according to a Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll released today, reflecting a sharp increase in public pessimism during the last year.
Nine percent of respondents said the country's economic condition has become better off since Bush became president, compared with 75% who said conditions had worsened. Among Republicans, 42% said the country is worse off, while 26% said it is about the same, and only 22% thought economic conditions had improved.
Phillip Thies, a registered Republican and clothing store owner in Cedar, Mich., who was one of those polled, said the president was doing an able job through the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks but that "right after that, it was steadily, steadily downhill."
"There has been a lack of leadership and a lack of timeliness of leadership, of not being conscious of the magnitude of the problems," Thies said of Bush in a follow-up interview. "He's always a day late and a dollar short."
FOR THE RECORD:
An earlier version of this article reported that 9% of poll respondents said the country had become better off since George W. Bush became president; this version clarifies that respondents were asked about the country's economic condition. In addition, this version corrects the references to Bush's February approval rating (34% instead of 35%), the number of those polled who blamed commodities speculators for higher fuel prices (13%, not 14%) and the number of those polled (1,233 adults, not 1,115 registered voters).
"I'm not as well off as I was before he was president and that pertains to all my friends, too, everyone I know," said Lois Coleman, 84, of Floyds Knobs, Ind., who described herself as an independent.
The economic pessimism has deepened sharply in the last year, intensified by higher fuel prices, the poll found. When the question was asked in March 2007, 24% of respondents said Bush's policies had improved the nation's economy and 46% said they had made it worse.
The increased unhappiness is reflected in an all-time low in Bush's approval rating -- just 23% now, compared with 34% in February.
"It is no surprise that Americans are feeling very pessimistic about the economy -- with rising gas and oil prices and food prices affecting their pocketbooks," said Times polling director Susan Pinkus.
