Wednesday, November 16, 2011

As We Were Saying...

A new poll by Public Policy Polling shows opposition mounting to the Occupy Wall Street movement. The new PPP poll shows 33% support OWS, while 45% oppose it. A month ago, those numbers were 35% support and 36% oppose. The poll also finds the public now has a lower opinion of OWS than the tea baggers. Ouch.

As we noted the other day, the OWS movement needs to reassess its strategy and what it's trying to accomplish. This is part of the analysis accompanying the poll (emphasis ours):
"I don’t think the bad poll numbers for Occupy Wall Street reflect Americans being unconcerned with wealth inequality. Polling we did in some key swing states earlier this year found overwhelming support for raising taxes on people who make over $150,000 a year. In late September we found that 73% of voters supported the ‘Buffett rule’ with only 16% opposed. And in October we found that Senators resistant to raising taxes on those who make more than a million dollars a year could pay a price at the polls. I don’t think any of that has changed- 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."