Presidential Responsibility

After they've been voted out, I suppose.

He does it because the public still in large part agrees with him. Polling has shown that Bush and the Republicans are still the #1 source of blame for the recession and the problems that we find ourselves facing as a nation today.



There is no time frame on this, especially when the last bunch was so bad.

The construction you have created posits that Obama - or anyone - could have solved these problems by now. This is false - there's no reason to believe that a Prez who came into office shackled by 2 wars and a giant financial crisis 'should' have the whole mess cleaned up already.

But I can understand why you Republicans want to pivot to that rhetorical point: it's simultaneously an indictment of the current group for not getting the job done fast enough, and an attempt to distract the public from the fact that the mess we are in was created by YOUR ideology and the politicians that YOU supported for years.

Cycloptichorn

So we can still Blame Clinton then? Reagan? Carter? Washington?

At some point in time, I recall a desperate plea from the other side about not blaming Clinton anymore... What time frame was that after Bush took office?

I have laid low in the political forums on purpose. But, there has to be a time where the current administration actually takes ownership, wouldn't you think?

Appealing to Extremes is a logical fallacy, Mcg. But you are free to blame whoever you like.



I'm sure I couldn't speak as to the accuracy or inaccuracy of your personal recollections, McG. But I would point out that you could hardly blame Clinton for the variety of problems Bush faced, because the vast majority were in fact created by him.

However, I will blame Clinton as well for the financial crisis, in large part because he was a big-business, deregulation Democrat. It would be appropriate to say that he was partially responsible through some of the foolish bills he signed at the end of his term.



I think that they have a measure of ownership already - for the solutions, but not the cause of the problems. It's important to distinguish the two.

In sum, I would say that the Admin will stop using Bush as an excuse at the point where Americans stop blaming Bush for the problems. When multiple polls clearly show that he is still blamed by most for the problems, it makes good political sense to agree with the majority on the issue. Wouldn't you agree?

Cycloptichorn

Did you try the frog's legs or are you to afraid to try it?