| Another day dawns and with it comes more bad news for those who want to deny the rising influence of the "Occupy" movement that's been spreading like a political prairie fire across America. Likewise the news isn't any better for those who are living under the false assumption that the Tea Party movement isn't in a state of serious decline. A new poll by Time magazine shows that as the Tea Party's popularity continues to fade, just as so many commentators had predicted it would. Meanwhile the newly found popularity of the "Occupy Movement" has risen and it's risen among Republicans as well, just not to the same degree. As I suggested yesterday the economic pain of the Great Recession knows no political boundaries. The economic populists on the right have been pummeled as hard as have those on the left. That makes for strange bedfellows. Let's take a look, shall we?
"One of the juicier nuggets in TIME's wide-ranging new poll is that voters are embracing the Occupy Wall Street movement as they sour on the Tea Party. Twice as many respondents (54%) have a favorable impression of the eclectic band massing in lower Manhattan's Zuccotti Park than of the conservative movement that has, after two years, become a staple of the American political scene." - I think that these findings suggest that the claim that the wind has come out of the Tea Party movement is highly credible and speaks volumes as to why no wave of massive counter demonstrations aimed at blunting the force of the "Occupy" movement has yet to materialize.
"Of the respondents in TIME's poll familiar with the protests, 86% - including 77% of Republicans - agree with the movement's contention that Wall Street and its proxies in Washington exert too much influence over the political process. More than 70%, and 65% of Republicans, think the financial chieftains responsible for dragging the U.S. economy to the brink of implosion in the fall of 2008 should be prosecuted. Other questions reveal a sharper split along partisan lines but nonetheless reveal the strength of economic populism. Nearly 80% of respondents (96% of Democrats and 56% of Republicans) think the class chasm between rich and poor has grown too large, and 68%, including 40% of Republicans, say the affluent should pay more taxes." - It goes without saying that the high percentage of Republican respondents who are aligned with the protestors on most of the issues lays waste to the claims that the crowd is made up of "progressives", dead beats, Marxists, spolied college kids or anarchists", an absurd claim prima facie, and one that can now undoubtedly and undeniably be dismissed outright by anyone who had ever taken it seriously in the first place.
"There are warning signs embedded in the good news too. Not the least of these is the Tea Party's own waning influence. That grassroots movement also grew from the seeds of economic frustration, generalized rage at Washington's policies and a virulent strain of populism. Over time, those broadly popular sentiments calcified into a hard-line movement that regards political cooperation as grounds for a primary challenge. TIME's poll provides a snapshot of a movement that no longer boasts the broad support it once enjoyed. Just 34% say the Tea Party has had a positive impact on U.S. politics, including just 35% of independents. Only 11% of respondents familiar with the movement call themselves members. It's easy to trace the Tea Party's withering support to its obstinacy; 89% of those surveyed argue that it's better for politicians to find common ground than to be hidebound to fixed principles." - I think the aforementioned more than vindicates earlier predictions on the subject and to date I am still waiting for my political opponents to provide me with independently verifiable data that shows that the Tea Party movement is anything if not in decline. The above cited findings effectively pitch the last shovel of dirt onto the ridiculous claim that the vast majority of Americans have accepted and support the Tea Party movement, in fact its just the opposite. Oh the pathos of self inflicted self deception among the radical right. Oh the sorry and the pity of having to realize that so many in that camp have effectively fooled themselves and lived in a world of falsehood for so long.
SJG
Source
Why Occupy Wall Street Is More Popular than the Tea Party*
http://swampland.time.com/2011...
(* For Now)
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