Sad times for Ricky:A sign that the Occupy Wall Street movement isn't the best long-term vehicle for Democrats to connect themselves with: A new Quinnipiac poll, showing a plurality of voters viewing the group unfavorably.
The poll, released today, show 30 percent of voters surveyed view the movement favorably, 39 percent unfavorably, with an additional 30 percent not hearing enough to have an opinion. It's one of the first national polls to suggest voters are growing skeptical of Occupy Wall Street- and it comes as police have clashed with protesters in several cities. Previous national polls have shown a plurality of adults supporting the movement.
These numbers comes as Democrats, from the White House on down, have struck a decidedly populist tone in recent months, from President Obama calling on the wealthy to pay a higher share in taxes, Senate Democratic officials rallying behind the campaign of Elizabeth Warren, who has embraced the Occupy Wall Street movement, and House Democrats, who sent out a petition last month aimed at leveraging the Occupy Wall Street movement against the Republican Party.
The poll found that Occupy Wall Street's negatives aren't quite as high as the Tea Party's unfavorables, but aren't far off. Just 31 percent of voters view the Tea Party unfavorably, 45 percent unfavorably, and 24 percent haven't heard enough.
Ricky will say, "Oh, but they're still more popular than the Tea Party."
I say, "Rubbish." The OWS movement has had more positive coverage in the MSM than the Tea Party ever did. The problem is that, although the voters may agree with some of the complaints of OWS, they will never approve of the tactics OWS is employing nor the associated antics. OWS will either be a flash in the pan or a distinct negative for Democrats who have embraced them. Why? Because Americans don't admire layabout lawbreakers, which is a major component of OWS.
NYC protest is not winning hearts and minds: Mayor Bloomberg turned up the tough talk on the Occupy Wall Street protesters: Treat the neighborhood with respect or a crackdown is coming.
“No one should think that we won’t take actions that we think are appropriate when we think they are appropriate,” Bloomberg told reporters Wednesday.
“This isn’t an occupation of Wall Street,” Bloomberg said. “It’s an occupation of a growing, vibrant residential neighborhood in lower Manhattan.”
The protesters and hundreds of metal NYPD barricades are “really hurting small businesses and families.”
City Hall officials declined to discuss what actions Bloomberg may take — or his breaking point.
Hizzoner’s vow to stand up for the neighborhood and its residents came a day after powerful Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and other pols demanded City Hall crack down on quality-of-life violations around Zuccotti Park.
Silver had expressed sympathy with the protesters’
message, but said exercising one’s First Amendment rights “should not include defecating or urinating on sidewalks.”
Silver was also peeved about the incessant drum beating that had rankled neighbors.
I've also read about a restaurant across from the site that just laid off 21 workers because business is off markedly since the occupation began. Is it hurting Wall Street or workers?
And, of course,
Oakland is out of control.
With such conditions, you just know the Democratic mayor of Oakland, Jean Quan, would step up to the plate and bring order out of chaos, right?
Not exactly:Quan’s support of the protests has created controversy amongst city workers. After ordering officers to clear protesters last week, Quan now supports the movement and gave city workers other than police the day off to join the work stoppage.
In an open letter from the police union, officers accused her of sending mixed messages.
“As your police officers, we are confused,” the letter read. “Is it the city’s intention to have city employees on both sides of a skirmish line?”
The scene in serene Seattle:Earlier in the day, Seattle police arrested six people, five of whom had sprawled across the floor inside a Chase Bank on Capitol Hill.
Officers launched pepper spray, shoved protesters out of the way and yanked others from under a police van during a tense 30-minute confrontation. Police said at least 10 officers were physically assaulted during the arrests, and at least two of them had minor injuries.
The melee broke out as the arrested protesters were led, handcuffed, into a police van.
As the conflict between police and protesters moved up and down Broadway, about 100 protesters chanted about officers' actions and about the issues of concern to their movement — corporate greed, big banks and the growing disparity between the incomes of the nation's rich and its poor.
Phil Neel, an Occupy Seattle member, said the five protesters who occupied the bank in the afternoon did so intending to be arrested.
Beforehand, the group held a brief rally and marched from its encampment at Seattle Central Community College north toward the bank. Then, as a larger group surrounded the bank, the five protesters, who had entered the building earlier, got to the floor.
Neel, 23, said the goal was to shut down the bank for the afternoon, and that is what happened.
Neel, of Seattle, called banks "the churches of capitalism" and said "we're defiling that holy ground in a sense."
After the protesters inside the bank were arrested, youths surrounded the police van and started pounding on it. Others lay down in the street in front of it and behind it.
Police yanked protesters out of the way, a move that spurred other protesters to shove officers.
Soon, officers doused the crowd with pepper spray; one woman sat at Broadway Avenue and East Thomas Street while other people poured water in her eyes so she could see.
The fight between police and protesters continued south on Broadway, then back north. When protesters reached the corner of East Harrison Street they stood in a circle, some held hands and hugged. Then the group marched south, back to Seattle Central Community College with police following closely behind.
Protest organizers then told the group to head east, down Pine Street, toward Westlake Park where they were set to rally in advance of the evening protest at the Sheraton.
Ricky, you are welcome to think all of this will lead toward a liberal ascendancy. Meanwhile, I'll watch the polls which will show OWS continuing to plunge in popularity.
The easiest indicator to read: by next year, Obama will no longer invoke OWS in a positive way. The movement will become political cancer.
rickyp wrote:That one was, doesn't say anything about their message.
One rapist does not. Scores of arrests, consistent violence and disregard for the rights of others, and a warm embrace by socialists, communists, and anarchists does.
One more addition, since it's such
a lovely summary:American flags were burned. ATMs were destroyed. Occupiers were hit by cars as they jaywalked across the street. In other words, Occupy Oakland’s general strike turned into lawless mayhem as anyone with an ounce of common sense would have predicted.
True, the Occupy Oakland general strike was not entirely violent. Throughout most of the day occupiers only terrorized shoppers, destroyed private property, and shut down commerce at the Port of Oakland. The real mayhem didn’t begin until protesters occupied an abandoned building near San Pablo Avenue and 17th Street. The occupiers erected barricades using tires, pallets, and garbage cans and set them on fire when riot police began evicting them from the building. An all-out battle followed with police using tear gas, flash grenades, and bean bag rounds on the occupiers, and the occupiers responding with firecrackers and bottles.
By 12:30 AM, the occupiers had been removed from the building and retreated to their home base at Frank Ogawa Plaza. Despite all the damage and mayhem they have caused, the liberal leaders of Oakland only want to embrace the movement further. The Oakland City Council will take up a resolution today supporting the Occupy encampment and calling on city administrators to “collaborate with protesters.” The resolution is expected to pass over the objection of Council President Larry Reid. “We’ve given up control of the city” to the occupiers, Reid said. “We don’t call the shots anymore – they do.”
The glory of being a liberal: protesters can damage your city, disrupt its commerce, scare your people witless, but you, being in government, can embrace it and call for dialogue. I'm sure the people of Oakland are excited about the opportunity for more. Maybe we can get a full-fledged riot going!
Woot!
02 Nov 2011, 9:46 pm 
