Who's to Blame? New Gallup Poll

Only the usual 13% blame President Bush. That's about the right number. So why is the MSM so hell bent on making us believe we all believe Bush is at fault for Katrina? Agenda, anyone?

No Apparent Outrage With Government's Response to Hurricane

Despite widespread criticism of the response by Bush and, separately, the federal government, to the problems caused by the hurricane, the public seems on balance only mildly critical. Forty-two percent say Bush did a "bad" (18%) or "terrible" (24%) job, but 35% rate his response as either "great" (10%) or "good" (25%).

Do you think -- [RANDOM ORDER] -- has/have done a -- great, good, neither good nor bad, bad, or terrible job -- in responding to the hurricane and subsequent flooding?

	Great	Good	Neither good nor bad	Bad	Ter- rible	No opinion
	%	%	%	%	%	%
George W. Bush	10	25	21	18	24	2
Federal government agencies responsible for handling emergencies	8	27	20	20	22	3
State and local officials in Louisiana	7	30	23	20	15	5

Federal agencies received a similar rating, with 42% of Americans giving a low rating and 35% a high one. The public was about evenly divided on state and local officials in Louisiana -- 37% giving a high rating and 35% a low one.

The ratings for Bush are highly related to party affiliation.

• By a margin of 69% to 10%, Republicans give Bush a positive rather than negative rating for his response.
• Democrats give almost a mirror opposite -- 66% negative to 10% positive.
• Independents side with the Democrats, giving a more modest margin -- 47% negative to 29% positive.

When asked to identify who was most responsible for the problems in New Orleans after the hurricane, 38% of Americans said no one was really to blame, while 13% cited Bush, 18% the federal agencies, and 25% state and local officials.

Who do you think is MOST responsible for the problems in New Orleans after the hurricane -- [ROTATED: George W. Bush, federal agencies, (or) state and local officials], or is no one really to blame?

	George W. Bush	Federal agencies	State/ local officials	No one to blame	No opinion
2005 Sep 5-6	13%	18	25	38	6

Few Americans feel that any top official in the agencies responsible for handling emergencies should be dismissed from office -- just 29% say someone should be fired, while 63% disagree.

Do you think that any of the top officials in the federal agencies responsible for handling emergencies should be fired, or don't you think so?

	Yes, should be fired	No, don't think so	No opinion
2005 Sep 5-6	29%	63	8

The Left's onslaught against the President appears to have failed. But they'll keep trying...