While the nation wholly is reluctant to assign blame to the Bush Administration, according to a new Zogby/Scoop44 poll, a majority of 18- to 29-year-olds and 50- to 64-year-olds said the Bush administration’s economic policies are responsible for continued joblessness despite his departure from the White House.

At the same time, views were more split in the 30-49 and 65+ blocs, where an averaged 40% of survey respondents disagreed and said they lay blame of the Obama administration’s new fiscal policies.

The results reflect Obama’s sustained popularity with Generation Y and college-aged youth, and his lesser standing among significantly older Americans.

In total, 36% agreed with Statement B: The policies of the Obama administration are directly responsible for the loss of jobs since the new President took office.), while a larger 47% said they agreed with Statement A: The policies of the Bush administration have long reaching effects and are largely responsible for the continuing decline in the number of available jobs in the economy, in spite of the fact that there is a new administration.

In each age breakdown, an averaged 14% of respondents said that they agreed with neither statement.

Julian Zelizer, an American historian at Princeton, cites young people’s continued “disillusionment with the Bush Administration and their feeling that “he was personally responsible for the economic collapse.”

“It seems from this poll that young people have not changed their mind.”

However, Zelizer also noted young people’s renewed “skepticism about their new boss.”

“As the president is forced to make compromises and we learn that change is limited in Washington, younger Americans tend to become frustrated and call for more,” he added.

Jeff Milyo, a professor of economics at the University of Missouri, also analyzed the data.

“The demographic pattern reflects the popularity of Obama at the time he was elected…younger voters were more enthusiastic about Obama and older voters less so.”

Stephanie Luce, a professor of labor at UMass-Amherst, said the Zogby-Scoop44 results suggest “young people are better understanding economics than old respondents. It’s hard to see how you could blame the Obama administration.”

“Unemployment went from 4.8% in April 2008 to 8.5% in January 2009, so that choice [of blame] is clear,” she added.

Neither President Clinton nor current chief economic advisor Lawrence Summers, according to Luce, are out of the “blame game.” “The Clinton administration was behind some of the policy changes that also contributed to granting more power to capital vis-à-vis workers.”

Pete Seat, a former assistant press secretary to President Bush, disagrees.

He said that Obama’s policies have not proven to successfully recover the American economy.

“When Barack Obama took the oath of office, he not only owned the economy, but he also assured Americans that his stimulus plan would bring swift changes to the hardships felt by every American.

Seat added, “Today, the Administration continues to dial-back their initial claims, especially on unemployment, because their economic policies are not having the effect they expected as we recently found out that the proportion of job seekers to job openings is 6-to-1.”

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