by Calculated Risk on 6/25/2008 06:51:00 PM

From the LA Times: Times poll: 75% blame Bush's policies for deteriorating economy

[A]ccording to a Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll ... Nine percent of respondents said the country's economic condition has become better off since Bush became president, compared with 75% who said conditions had worsened. Among Republicans, 42% said the country is worse off, while 26% said it is about the same, and only 22% thought economic conditions had improved.
...
All together, 82% of respondents said the economy is doing badly, compared with 71% who felt that way when the question was asked in February. And the pessimism has intensified: 50% of respondents said the economy is doing "very badly," compared to 38% in February.

This is kind of like blaming the quarterback for a loss; there are many other factors (although I share the view that the Bush administration has done a poor job on economic matters). This is a very high level of pessimism, and is probably related to higher gasoline prices, something that is very visible to every American.

On energy:

Seventy percent of respondents said the rising cost of fuel had caused hardship for their families and the pain appeared spread across all income groups: 79% of people with incomes of less than $40,000 a year said the higher prices were a hardship, but so did 55% of respondents with incomes above $100,000.

In general confidence polls are coincident indicators (they tell you what you already know about spending patterns), so this doesn't suggest anything about future consumer spending. But it's pretty clear that Americans are not happy.