Despite polling showing that the public blames the Bush administration for the poor economy by a large margin, Politico's Eamon Javers asserted in an April 15 article that “after the spate of media attention to come when [President Obama] hits the 100-day mark, Obama will own the economy in a very real political sense” and that "[a]fter that, voters are likely to hold Obama more responsible for their economic suffering, and patience for blaming the Bush Administration will wear thin." Javers provided no evidence for his assertion that the public will no longer see the Bush administration as responsible for the state of the economy after Obama's “100-day mark.”

In fact, an NBC News/Wall Street Journal survey conducted February 26-March 1 found that 84 percent of adults believe that Obama “inherited” the current economic conditions and that only 2 percent of those who feel that way think that Obama will become “responsible for the country's economic conditions” in less than six months.

Instead of supporting his assertion that “Obama will own the economy in a very real political sense” after 100 days in office with polling on public perception of Obama's responsibility for the economy, Javers pointed to a poll that asked respondents about Obama's ability to solve the nation's problems in general. Javers wrote, “A recent Public Strategies Inc./POLITICO poll suggests Obama does have some leeway. The survey of 1,000 registered voters found that two thirds of the respondents trust the president 'to identify the right solutions to the problems we face as a nation.' ”

In addition to the NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, a Washington Post/ABC News poll conducted March 26-29 found that while 70 percent of respondents believe that the Bush administration deserves a “great deal” or “good amount” of the “blame” for “the country's economic situation,” 26 percent of respondents fault Obama. The same poll found that 60 percent of respondents are “angry about the role” the Bush administration “played in the economic situation,” while 21 percent are angry with the Obama administration.

As Media Matters for America has documented, over the past several months, the press has repeatedly disappeared the Bush administration from its economic reporting.

From the Washington Post/ABC News poll:

From the NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll:

From the April 15 Politico article:

President Barack Obama and his economic team are changing their tone on the economy. Gone are Obama's bleak descriptions of crisis and catastrophe. In their place are “glimmers of hope” of a turnaround.

The question is: why now?

It's a tricky balance. The White House doesn't want to hang a premature “Mission Accomplished” banner on the economy ala President Bush's speech about Iraq. Obama's recovery talk Tuesday was couched with warnings of “more job loss, more foreclosures, and more pain before it ends.”

But through all that, Obama is highlighting an economy on the mend. Here are five reasons for Obama to make that rhetorical pivot now:

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2. The 100-Day Clock is Ticking

There are political realities at work, too. Obama's speech came on Day 85 of his presidency, and after the spate of media attention to come when he hits the 100-day mark, Obama will own the economy in a very real political sense.

After that, voters are likely to hold Obama more responsible for their economic suffering, and patience for blaming the Bush Administration will wear thin.

The president touched on this theme Tuesday, sounding almost as if he wished the clamor for results wasn't so intense, with a “24-hour news cycle that insists on instant gratification in the form of immediate results, or higher poll numbers.”

Still, White House officials believe Obama's window of patience from voters could last as long as two years, if the public continues to see him as someone who is being straight with them about the problems and working to solve them.

A recent Public Strategies Inc./POLITICO poll suggests Obama does have some leeway. The survey of 1,000 registered voters found that two thirds of the respondents trust the president “to identify the right solutions to the problems we face as a nation.”

But if job losses continue, at some point, voters will expect results. Says one Senate GOP aide, “If the White House is right and the job numbers continue to go south through the end of the year, people are going to start asking where the hell the jobs are that they were promised.”