Earlier, Erika noted Barack Obama’s “the buck doesn’t stop here” on polarization in Washington, but Media Research Center’s Dan Joseph took to the streets of Washington DC to find out who people blame specifically for the government shutdown. Dan offers passersby two choices — Barack Obama or George W. Bush.  Guess who gets the most blame?

Well, if it was Obama, then this would hardly be newsworthy, right?

Our colleague Dan Doherty wonders when Obama’s fan club will ever hold him accountable:

The “Blame Bush!” rallying cry routinely employed by leftists during the 2012 election was a useful tool used to discredit Republicans and insulate the president from criticism. It worked. But President Obama is in his second term. He’s held elective office for nearly half a decade. He’s the commander-in-chief of the United States of America, and any blame for stalled budget talks, government shutdowns or whatever should rest squarely on his shoulders. Theoretically, that is.

Granted, I realize some Americans will blame Bush for every problem we face — no matter what. He’s Democrats’ favorite fall guy, after all. But at a certain point one has to seriously wonder if these Obama flaks are shameless partisans who actually believe what they say or just hopelessly misinformed. I suspect it’s a combination of the two.

In part, though, this is an artifact of a somewhat false choice, albeit one intended to expose exactly what Dan describes.  If MRCTV had hit the streets to ask passersby whether Democrats or Republicans were more at fault, the split might be the same or even more one-sided, and more difficult to argue against.

Still, it’s a fun peek into the psyche of those who argue on one hand that Bush was an airhead and on the other that he was so successful in restructuring American society and economics that Barack Obama is still not competent for the results of his policies now.  Enjoy it for what it is.