Uh-oh. New poll suggests 'blame Bush' may not be working like it used to...

Terrorism? Bush's fault. The Ukraine? Bush's fault. Benghazi? Bush's fault. Smallest labor participation rate in 30 years? Bush's fault. Terrible GDP? Bush's fault. Soaring gas prices? Bush's fault. Stagnant 'recovery?' Bush's fault. Mid-East collapse? Bush's fault. ObamaCare's many failings? Somehow, mysteriously, also Bush's fault.

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No matter what disastrous policy the Obama administration implements, you can be sure that - when the chickens come home to roost - Democrats will blame Bush. Along with "Racism," blaming Bush has become one half of their logic-defying Romulus & Remus of excuses. It's ridiculous, but it's all they've got. So they've gone with it over and over again. But that may have to change. A new poll shows that the "blame Bush" magic is on the wane. From the FiveThirtyEight blog:

"over the past year, polling data has begun to suggest that Bush is no longer quite the liability he once was for the GOP, and that most Americans no longer see the current economy as something Obama inherited. Since April, Bush’s favorable rating has averaged 49.3 percent. His unfavorable rating has averaged 46.3 percent. More Americans now like Bush than dislike him."

FiveThirtyEight cites a new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll to show a marked increase of Bush's favorable numbers since he left office. You'll recall that, in his final days as President, he was struggling to hang on to a 30% approval rating. If you're thinking that the approval rating of an ex-President, along with that of a possible lame duck, isn't all that important, you're probably right. More interesting is Democrat strategy going forward....

Moreover, the percentage who believe that Obama inherited the nation’s current economic conditions has dipped below 50 percent for the first time. According to the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, it’s just 46 percent of Americans. Although that’s only one poll, it’s far beyond the prior low of 56 percent recorded by the NBC survey. Uh-oh. New poll suggests 'blame Bush' may not be working like it used to...

The fine folks over at FiveThirtyEight do everything they can to remind us that, even if he is climbing the ladder of public opinion, Bush is still below water. They point out that even Jimmy Carter manages to boast an utterly inexplicable 58% favorable. Their conclusion?

None of this data suggests that Bush is popular or should be trotted out by Republicans in the 2014 midterm elections.

That's sage advice. The GOP should not be trotting out "Bush was awesome" as a central plank of its 2014 campaign. Thanks, FiveThirtyEight, for that oh-so-insightful nugget of wisdom. No one could possibly have figured that out on their own. However, if Bush's 49% popularity rating isn't good enough for 2014 bragging rights, what does that say about our glorious commander-in-chief? He's currently languishing at 39-41% depending on the poll. If Bush is still a GOP millstone, despite being 6 years out of office and enjoying a near 50% approval rating, how can any Democrat candidate possibly defend the Obama administration? Behold the definition of "toxic." If these trends continue, by the time 2016 rolls around Obama and the Democrats will finally be forced to own their terrible economy. Their incompetence will be their own, and no amount of blame will change that fact. Anyone associated with the administration will be tarred with the same unpleasant brush. Luckily for Dems, they're not going to run anyone who served as a faulty part of Obama's trainwreck. ....oh wait.