Voters Blame Repubs For Bad Economy

It looks like the American people may not be as stupid as the McCain campaign had hoped they were. Since the Republican convention, McCain has been trying to separate himself from Bush and the Republican economic policies. But it doesn't look like it's working.

According to a brand new CNN poll taken this last weekend, twice as many people blame the Republicans for the disastrous economy as blame the Republicans. Here are the numbers:

Blame Republicans.....47%

Blame Democrats......24%

Blame both parties....21%

Blame neither party...8%

The news is also good when voters were asked who would handle an economic crises better. Obama was picked by 49% and McCain by 43%. When asked who would handle the economy better in general, the Obama lead lengthened to 10%.

McCain's efforts to differentiate himself from George Bush is simply not working. At least 53% of voters say McCain would mostly just follow Bush's economic policies. Bush's own disapproval rating rose by 3% since the last CNN poll.

CNN's last poll was a couple of weeks ago. At that time, the poll had Obama and McCain tied at 48% each. That has now changed (and seems to still be changing). Registered voters now favor Obama 51% to 46%.

Perhaps most surprising is which groups are shifting. According to the poll, Obama now has a slim lead among all men and among the elderly. These two groups were in the McCain camp a couple of weeks ago.

The current economic crises is worrying Americans. 22% say the crises has frightened them, while 67% say they are concerned. Only 11% say they are not worried.

The situation is definitely giving the Obama campaign a lift. How much of a lift? That probably won't be known for a couple of weeks, when we'll see if McCain can stop the bleeding or not.