In a CNN/ORC poll released Friday, 90 percent of Americans said the economy stinks.
Just over half, 52 percent, put the blame on George W. Bush and the Republicans - down 5 points from July.
Only 32 percent blame President Obama and the Democrats, up three points from July.
The poll was conducted between September 23 - 25, at least four days before Vice President Biden told the nation voters should blame Obama instead of Bush for the economy.
"We're in charge," Biden told WLRN's Phil Latzman Thursday.
Politico added:
The poll also surveyed Americans on their opinion of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and billionaire investor Warren Buffett. Buffett — the third wealthiest man in the world with a net worth of about $80 billion, and an Obama supporter — is the more well-known and popular of the two, with 43 percent of Americans saying they hold a favorable opinion of him. A third of those polled said they are unsure of their opinion, while 24 percent view him unfavorably.
On Friday, conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh panned the poll's results.
"There's just no way in a poll where 90 percent of the people agree the economy stinks that over half of them blame Bush," he said.
Limbaugh implied that fears of being called racist may have played a role.
"This 52 percent of Americans blaming Bush, what percentage of that bunch doesn't want to tell a pollster that they blame the black guy? There's no question that that's a factor in this."
In June, 81 percent said the economy was in bad shape, and the number has steadily climbed every month thereafter.
In December, 2008 - just before Obama's inauguration - 93 percent said the economy was in bad shape.
The survey was conducted by telephone of 1,010 adults with a 3 point margin of error. 917 of those surveyed were registered voters.
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