By: Jason EasleyJun. 14th, 2012more from Jason Easley

As President Obama gets to set to deliver a speech on the economy, a new Gallup Poll found that 68% of Americans still blame George W. Bush for the economy.

 Gallup found that 52% of Americans blame Obama for the economy. Eighty one percent of Republicans, fifty one percent of Independents, and nineteen percent of Democrats blame President Obama a great deal for the economy, but over two thirds of respondents still blame George W. Bush for the economy.  Sixty eight percent of Americans, ninety percent of Democrats, sixty seven percent of Independents and even 49% of Republicans blame George W. Bush for the current state of the economy.

 The remarkable thing about these numbers is that they are growing. Last June, 61% of Americans blamed Bush for the recession. Today, that number has increased to 68%.  Americans are holding George W. Bush responsible for this mess and no amount of Republican spin and miss me yet signs are shifting public opinion. The main line of Republican push back has been to accuse Obama of blaming others for his problems, but the reason why the White House blames Bush is because most Americans blame Bush.

Not only are Republican attempts to stick their economic mess on Obama failing, but the president’s message that the nation is on the right track and he needs more time appears to be working.  The reason why it works is because only the 30% of the nation that makes up the rock red base of the Republican Party believes that Bush bears no blame.

When almost half of the Republican Party believes that their former president is to blame for crashing the economy, it is a sign that the GOP still has a major problem. The GOP's problems are compounded by the fact that Mitt Romney is allowing himself to be defined as the political reincarnation of Bush. Instead of establishing what he would do differently, Romney, whose campaign is full of former Cheney staffers, seems intent on reinforcing the idea that a vote for Mitt is a vote to return to the Bush years.

George W. Bush is the anchor hanging around the Republican Party’s neck. Americans aren’t buying what they are selling when they talk about the “Obama recession” and the “Obama Economy.” People know who is to blame for the economic destruction that tore through their lives, and it isn’t Barack Obama.  

Republicans are going to try to win an election by pretending like the previous Republican administration doesn’t exist. They may have forgotten, but millions of Americans will never forget how the policies of George W. Bush shattered their economic lives.