Phoned by pollsters, a slight majority of Americans would say our flagging economy is still George Bush's fault. That would be one big takeaway from Thursday's AP/GfK poll, which oozes with plenty of pessimism at the rest of the D.C. establishment as well. While 51 percent of would say the ex-decider bears responsibility for our economic woes, 31 percent think the buck has passed to Obama. Most (75 percent) of the country thinks we're headed in the theoretical "wrong direction" and 86 percent of those surveyed deemed the economy "poor." Surprisingly, despite the skepticism heaped at everyone else, Americans seem mildly optimistic about themselves: "Sixty percent described the financial situation in their own households as 'good,' about even with the level in June."

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Erik Hayden