Poll Shows Almost 80% Of Americans Hold Obama 'Personally' Responsible For VA Scandal

A new poll shows about 80% of Americans think President Barack Obama is "personally" responsible for at least some of the issues with the medical care provided to former soldiers by the Department of Veterans Affairs.

The Washington Post-ABC News poll, released Tuesday, found 38% of respondents viewed Obama responsible for a "good" or "great" amount of the VA's woes; another 41% said Obama was responsible for "just some" of the controversy. That makes for 79% of voters who lay at least some of the blame for the scandal with the president.

Revelations of chronically long wait times and other issues at VA health care facilities have rocked the federal agency in recent weeks. A damning report by the VA inspector general released last Wednesday found "systemic" problems and "scheduling schemes" being used to hide delays in care at VA medical facilities that have been linked to multiple deaths. The growing scandal led to Secretary Eric Shinseki's resignation last Friday.

The Post-ABC poll, conducted among a national sample of 1,002 adults, further found a whopping 82% view the issue as "very serious" and another 15% view it as "somewhat serious." Just 2% described it as not especially serious.

A solid majority - 65% - said Shinseki's decision to resign was the right one.