Obama has been using and overusing the Blame Bush gambit for his entire presidency. To the extent it ever “worked,” it was with regard to the economy. For a very long time, voters have accepted the argument that Obama could not be responsible for the economic collapse that began before he took office. No more:

For the first time since President Obama took office, voters see his policies as equally to blame as those of President George W. Bush for the country’s current economic problems.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 48% of Likely U.S. Voters now think Obama’s policies are to blame for the continuing bad economy, up three points from last month. Forty-seven percent (47%) say the recession that began under Bush is at fault.

With voters across the country expressing stronger belief that the economy is getting worse rather than better, these new findings spell potential bad news for Democratic candidates this fall. The president is already planning to limit his campaign appearances with candidates because of potential voter backlash.

In June and last October, 45% blamed Obama’s policies for the country’s ongoing economic woes, the previous high finding on this question. The number who blame Bush is down from 62% in May 2009 when Rasmussen Reports first began tracking the question regularly. Only 27% faulted Obama at that time.

That’s quite a reversal and altogether fitting. Obama has been president for 18 months now. It’s time he acknowledged what the voters have — that he must stop blaming everyone else for his own shortcomings.