If a recent opinion survey by Public Policy Polling is any indication, the end of the full Occupation of Wall Street might have been the best thing that could have happened to the movement. Not because it will earn them public sympathy, but because the occupation itself had become the least sympathetic thing about the group.
From PPP’s write-up of its poll:
The Occupy Wall Street movement is not wearing well with voters across the country. Only 33% now say that they are supportive of its goals, compared to 45% who say they oppose them. That represents an 11 point shift in the wrong direction for the movement’s support compared to a month ago when 35% of voters said they supported it and 36% were opposed. Most notably independents have gone from supporting Occupy Wall Street’s goals 39/34, to opposing them 34/42. … what the downturn in Occupy Wall Street’s image suggests is that voters are seeing the movement as more about the ‘Occupy’ than the ‘Wall Street.’ The controversy over the protests is starting to drown out the actual message.
The author, PPP’s Tom Jensen, says he believes this turnaround is not because Americans are not concerned about inequality; to support that opinion, he cites three earlier polls (done, let’s note, for very a couple of very left-wing organizations). But those results don’t exactly square with the contrast between support for OWS’s goals and those of the tea party, which he mentions in the same post:
Voters don’t care for the Tea Party either, with 42% saying they support its goals to 45% opposed. But asked whether they have a higher opinion of the Tea Party or Occupy Wall Street movement the Tea Party wins out 43-37, representing a flip from last month when Occupy Wall Street won out 40-37 on that question. Again the movement with independents is notable- from preferring Occupy Wall Street 43-34, to siding with the Tea Party 44-40.
I don’t think one can equate 42-45 approval/disapproval ratings, within the poll’s margin of error (3.5 percent), with a 33-45 split. And the rest of the numbers, particularly the ones for independent voters, speak for themselves.
To the degree that the tea party and OWS have identified some of the same problems — e.g., bailouts and other examples of crony capitalism — it would appear the tea partyers are better spokespeople. If the Occupiers want to change that, they’ll have to figure out how to do something other than form dirty, crime-ridden squatters’ encampments. That wasn’t working.
– By Kyle Wingfield
122 comments Add your comment
Dumpy
November 16th, 2011
2:11 pm
Pelosi knew the scene when she praised God for the communistic wannabes and their spirit.
Jefferson
November 16th, 2011
2:14 pm
Uppity writer uncovered.
Get Real
November 16th, 2011
2:22 pm
Anyone who thinks that the OWS crowd and the Tea Party movement are even remotely similar is on a another planet and in need of extreme mental health assistance
@@
November 16th, 2011
2:23 pm
Actually, the Tea Party Movement began with Bush’s bailouts. See evidence here.
Notice the dates…January 19, 2009. Obama wasn’t sworn in until January 20th. In other words, The Tea Partiers were already pithed.
Big Brother
November 16th, 2011
2:26 pm
OWS = Flea Party
Jack
November 16th, 2011
2:57 pm
Thanks, Don’t Tread. Was gonna say the same thing.
UGA 1999
November 16th, 2011
3:00 pm
Jack, we all feel the same….or the most of us with brains.
Tallis42
November 16th, 2011
3:05 pm
U.S. boosts estimate of auto bailout losses to $23.6B
From The Detroit News: http://detnews.com/article/20111114/AUTO01/111140434/U.S.-boosts-estimate-of-auto-bailout-losses-to-$23.6B#ixzz1dtkBqmTQ
Voice of Reason
November 16th, 2011
3:17 pm
Still haven’t heard a single liberal answer a question about Solyndra and Democratic corruption. They always try to turn it around and use the arguement that two wrongs make a right.
ODD OWL
November 16th, 2011
3:22 pm
The “Occupy Wall Street” Hero Patriots should begin assembling a “Provisional Government” in waiting… Just in case the Koch Brothers controlled tea party Republicans attempt to perpetrate a coup- d’- etat and overthrow our elected Government … The corporate bosses crave a corporative form of Government… “Of the rich, by the rich, for the rich” Administered by the lap dog, tea party Republicans….
rwcole
November 16th, 2011
3:26 pm
If only the OWS crowd had hired Dick Armey.
Cal
November 16th, 2011
3:27 pm
BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) — An undergraduate student shot by campus police after brandishing a loaded gun at the University of California, Berkeley died at a hospital hours after the confrontation, a university spokesman said Wednesday.
The spark that lights the fuse?
UGA 1999
November 16th, 2011
3:29 pm
ODD…”OWS HERO PATRIOTS”….you meant to say OWS CRIMINAL, RAPIST’S AND MOLESTERS” correct?
ND
November 16th, 2011
3:37 pm
Hard to support their goals when even they don’t know what they are.
@@
November 16th, 2011
3:39 pm
Obama has always needed a clean-up guy. Bill Daley to the rescue. Obama doesn’t like to get his hands dirty.
Policy and Politics Collide as Obama Enters Campaign Mode
The Obama administration has delayed two major clean air rules as the White House sharpens its focus on the president’s re-election.
joe
November 16th, 2011
3:47 pm
Obama is a shoe in 2012. Cain is a heel. Newt’s mother wears army boots.
WAW
November 16th, 2011
4:06 pm
With the latest news that Newt helped put the boom in the housing bust, two of the leading (R) candidates are lobbyist (and seem to be proud of it). How do you TP folks reconcile that?
As my daddy always said, “Don’t vote against yourself”
Voice of Reason
November 16th, 2011
4:07 pm
Dems- a real question:
How can you support a man who has participated in such blatant crony capitalism (e.g. Solyndra)?
John Kennedy
November 16th, 2011
4:07 pm
Hey I’ve got an idea! Since the 1% feels so put upon, let’s return to the tax rates of America’s finest decade, the 1950s. Does 90% suit you better? There now, feel better.
The Tea Party Crazies
November 16th, 2011
4:09 pm
@ @@ November 16th, 2011 12:55 pm – Crazies: The guy who fired a shot into the WH is suspected of having lived among the OWS crowd. Granted, he’s mentally ill…but then many among the OWS crowd appear to be mentally challenged.
Yep! However, that does not excused the behavior of the racist, gun carrying, hate monkering tea partyers!
Two wrongs don’t make it right!
I STILL WOULD TAKE MY CHANCES AMONG THE OWS supporters any day!
EVIL AIN’T WHAT IT USE TO BE!
The Tea Party Crazies
November 16th, 2011
4:12 pm
@Big Brother November 16th, 2011 2:26 pm – OWS = Flea Party
TP = Tainted P
@@
November 16th, 2011
4:14 pm
hate monkering!!??!!
What the heck is “hate monkering”?
DawgDad
November 16th, 2011
4:14 pm
33% of the voters in this country express support for the goals of those motley mobs that couldn’t themselves identify and articulate their own goals? That’s pathetic, tantamount to supporting “hope and change”. Moronic lemmings.
The Tea Party Crazies
November 16th, 2011
4:16 pm
@UGA 1999 November 16th, 2011 12:59 pm – BTW our candidate is blacker than yours! haha
THANK YOU JESUS. YOU CAN HAVE YOUR BLACKER THAN MINE CANDIDATE BECAUSE HE IS TOAST! HE WILL NEVER BE PRESIDENT. NOT IN THIS LIFE TIME. 9 9 9
.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHHAHAHAHAHAHAH!
The Tea Party Crazies
November 16th, 2011
4:21 pm
@Lil’ Barry Bailout (Revised Downward) November 16th, 2011 12:59 pm – “the tea party. Where are they now?” Congress. Any more simple minded questions I can answer for you?
Hey Lil’ Biddy Barry Bailout. We see you love the blog. It gives you something to do.
Buddy you must not have a job? You are on this blog 24-7.
Some people think that you are Kyle Wingfield in diguise.
MMMMMmmmmm?
@@
November 16th, 2011
4:22 pm
So what else is new(s)?
GLOBAL MARKETS-Stocks, euro slide on fears of wider debt crisis
The Tea Party Crazies
November 16th, 2011
4:29 pm
HAVE YOU HEARD!
A group of patriotic MILLIONAIRES are going to DC to push for more taxes!
Some of the people complaining the loudest about raising taxes are the poorest americans who don’t have a pot to p*ss in and a window to throw it out of!
Why is it always THEM!
grown-ups
November 16th, 2011
4:32 pm
My front group polls better than your spontaneous hippy protests…nanny nanny boo boo..
The Tea Party Crazies
November 16th, 2011
4:33 pm
@@@
November 16th, 2011 4:14 pm – hate monkering!!??!!
WHO ARE YOU THE SPELLCHECK POLICE?
Thank you for pointing that out; however, I meant HATE MONGERING AS IN TEA PARTY!
JohnnyReb
November 16th, 2011
4:36 pm
I agree with Get Real @ 2:22, comparisons of OWS to the Tea Party are ridiculous. Obama and his supporters long for a movement like the Tea Party, endorsed OWS, now to their disappointment.
The biggest contrast are the people, their character and attraction. Tea Party protesters demonstrate admirable character and they don’t attract drug users, etc. OWS is quite the reverse. They have trashed the environment while demanding it be respected. Belittled capitalisim but can’t survive without it. Their character and actions attract people up to no good such as drug users and those who have no manners or morals.
If OWS is indicative of Democrats, they should all run and hide in shame.
The most startling revelation is, some of them think participating in OWS and holding up signs, etc will somehow benefit them. If it be known, they won’t be able to get an interview with any respectable company that is not rooted in tree hugging.
@@
November 16th, 2011
4:39 pm
Okay, this is Robert Kennedy Jr’s company, which… by the way, received a $1.4 billion taxpayer bailout.
Solar thermal startup BrightSource recently finished building a solar-to-steam farm for oil giant Chevron, which will enable Chevron to use steam from the solar farm for enhanced oil recovery. But according to BrightSource’s latest amendments to its S-1 (the filing that indicates it will go public), that project, called Coalinga, ended up costing significantly more than BrightSource expected.
Enhanced Oil Recovery (abbreviated EOR) is a generic term for techniques for increasing the amount of crude oil that can be extracted from an oil field.
Kinda weird. Alternative energy helps Chevron squeeze the oil. Good to the last drop.
@@
November 16th, 2011
4:42 pm
Crazies:
WHO ARE YOU THE SPELLCHECK POLICE?
Nope! Just thought something new had come along. Gotta keep up with the newest buzzwords.
schnirt
@@
November 16th, 2011
4:54 pm
Crazies:
Why are you always shouting?
I keep eight fingers on the homekeys, gathering all letters in from that stationary place. A hunter gatherer if you will.
You? I’m guessing you’re a hunter pecker-er?
MarkV
November 16th, 2011
4:57 pm
“Tea Party protesters demonstrate admirable character …”
Yes, we have seen their signs, their guns, their behavior at the Capitol and town hall meetings.
@@
November 16th, 2011
4:58 pm
Lawd ah mercy! Joe Paterno’s set to receive over $500,000 in annual pension.
GT
November 16th, 2011
5:05 pm
Miss the point once again. OWS is anti everything traditional most of all a sleek PR machine. Suddenly the Republicans or Tea Party is like Mose’s and the tablets. You have to spell your position out with talking points that change every few days or bullet points. The OWS is a spirit. The right gets raw about it because there is nothing their mean little minds and list making can grab hold of to attack or facts they can misquote. The polls can say what they will about the OWS, what they miss is the population that believe the spirit of what they stand for is felt and true. You may not like some idiot living in your back yard but you may totally agree with his politics.
Ross Perot
November 16th, 2011
5:07 pm
I’ll bet Hitler feels really bad looking up from he!!, realizing that he wasted all of that energy exterminating intelligent, productive Jewish people when he could have been exterminating the beligerant,ungrateful, economical parasites, aka Liberals!
GT
November 16th, 2011
5:10 pm
Ross I get the feeling the far right would be for extermination of any thing not like them. I can see a little Hitler in them, good point, keep those post coming in.
Rubes never get it
November 16th, 2011
5:23 pm
Yes, Keep Govment Out of my Medcare, spelled incorrectly by overly fat white, middle aged people. Or over educated thin hairy multi-colored people who are loud. That is a hard decision, but I’m going with the latter. At least they can spell.
marko
November 16th, 2011
5:29 pm
Gee whizzer snacks, I get the feeling Kyle doesn’t care much for the OWS bunch. I’m sure they’re crushed. Exciting poll numbers. They seem to flip and flop as often as Mitt Romney. As you look at the Tea Party faithful, you notice that they’re old. The OWS crowd is much younger, and more international, the movement seems to be global in nature. If I were a Tea Party type, I wouldn’t fret too much about the OWS kids. after all most of you will be dead by the time they decide what they want.
Lil' Barry Bailout (Revised Downward)
November 16th, 2011
5:39 pm
John Kennedy: Hey I’ve got an idea! Since the 1% feels so put upon, let’s return to the tax rates of America’s finest decade, the 1950s
————————
No problem as long as we also bring back all the deductions of America’s finest decade, the 1950s, moron.
Lil' Barry Bailout (Revised Downward)
November 16th, 2011
5:43 pm
GT: You may not like some idiot living in your back yard but you may totally agree with his politics.
—————————
I rather doubt that the productive would have much in common, politically, with losers squatting in pup tents in someone’s back yard.
Lil' Barry Bailout (Revised Downward)
November 16th, 2011
5:47 pm
U.S. boosts estimate of auto bailout losses to $23.6B
The Treasury Department dramatically boosted its estimate of losses from its $85 billion auto industry bailout by more than $9 billion in the face of General Motors Co.’s steep stock decline.
In its monthly report to Congress, the Treasury Department now says it expects to lose $23.6 billion, up from its previous estimate of $14.33 billion.
————————–
Another failure of Obozo’s pay-to-play crony capitalism.
Thanks, receptacles.
Ross Perot
November 16th, 2011
5:48 pm
Actually GT, I would have to say it would be the liberals that would be for the extermination of other groups. After all, they want to be the thought police of people, drive agendas like political correctness and tolerance even if they are polar opposite of someone else’s more grounded belief system. I will keep the posts coming though.
Lil' Barry Bailout (Revised Downward)
November 16th, 2011
5:51 pm
Robert Kennedy, Jr.’s ‘Green’ Company Scored $1.4 Billion Taxpayer Bailout
President John F. Kennedy’s nephew, Robert Kennedy, Jr., netted a $1.4 billion bailout for his company, BrightSource, through a loan guarantee issued by a former employee-turned Department of Energy official
———————————–
The 1% get some more taxpayer dollars, courtesy of your Idiot Obozo’s criminal pay-to-play cronyism.
Thanks, receptacles.
I Report (-: You Whine )-: Thee Magnificent!!! mmm, mmmm, mmmmm! Just sayin...
November 16th, 2011
5:57 pm
Can anyone one imagine what would be going on at the Urinal and all the other panty waist lib media hovels had some Tea Partier taken a pot shot at the White House?
Egads, it would be wall to wall hysteria.
But, since it was some street defecating, disease ridden pinko we get nothing but zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz from the AJC.
JohnnyReb
November 16th, 2011
5:58 pm
The Left can try and make the most of OWS, but there is nothing admirable about agreeing to repay a student loan then later protesting and demanding the government pay it. That thought process is rampant on the Left and indicative of the people dragging down our Nation.
Lil' Barry Bailout (Revised Downward)
November 16th, 2011
6:00 pm
Where does Janet Napolitano stand on these domestic terrorists who call themselves “Occupiers”?
saywhat?
November 16th, 2011
6:15 pm
Where does LBB stand on these domestic terrorists who call themselves Republicans?
@@
November 16th, 2011
6:26 pm
OWS is a spirit!!??!!
Fermented grains, fruits, and vegetables are also spirits.