Get FREE NRO Newsletters

 

June 11 Issue  |  Subscribe  |  Renew

Close

New on NRO . . .

The Campaign Spot

Election-driven news and views . . . by Jim Geraghty.


Print   |  Text
 

CNN: Americans Largely ‘Meh’ on Occupy Wall Street

The numbers on Occupy Wall Street haven’t moved much since their debut. Neither is familiarity breeding contempt nor is the country warming to their cries.

Rasmussen Reports, October 5: “Thirty-three percent (33%) have a favorable opinion, 27% hold an unfavorable view, and a plurality of 40% have no opinion one way or the other.”

On October 13, Time found that 80 percent of respondents had heard of the protests, and that of those respondents, 37 percent tend to support the movement, and 18 percent tend to oppose.

On October 18, Gallup found 22 percent approving the movement’s goals, 15 percent disapproving, and 63 percent not knowing enough to say.

And now, today, CNN:

Among those who have an opinion, the public is split on how they feel about Occupy Wall Street. Thirty-two percent of Americans say they have a favorable view of the movement that has spread from Wall Street to Chicago, and that even cropped up at the most recent CNN presidential debate in Las Vegas. Twenty-nine percent of the nation says they have an unfavorable view of Occupy Wall Street.

Sure, it’s different pollsters with different methods and sample sizes, but the results are surprisingly consistent in their proportions. In all of these, the Occupy Wall Street crowd can console themselves with slightly more folks liking them or supporting them than opposing them. But after three weeks of pretty intense media coverage, a significant number of Americans have no opinion on the movement or its goals. In the CNN poll, 26 percent volunteered that they had never heard of it and another 13 percent said they had heard of them and simply didn’t have an opinion of them.

UPDATE: Throw another one on the pile, this one from Pew Research Center for the People & the Press and the Washington Post, conducted October 20–23 among 1,009 adults:

About four-in-ten Americans say they support the Occupy Wall Street movement (39%), while nearly as many (35%) say they oppose the movement launched last month in New York’s financial district.

Tags: Occupy Wall Street, Polling

New on The Campaign Spot. . .


COMMENTS   8

EXPAND  

John Sexton
   10/24/11 17:10

This has everything to do with the national media's refusal to cover the problems at various Occupy sites. Drug abuse, violence, sexual harassment, etc.--the MSM is covering the occupier's behinds. The whitewash can't last forever though.

Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse
bob carlton
   10/24/11 21:58

um, jimbo

if your interpretation of these polls is that Americans think OWS is meh, then what exactly do you think of the polls on your Tea Partiers ? maybe, hurl ?

In the TIME poll, only 27 percent viewed the Tea Party favorably, while NBC/WSJ found a 28-41 percent support deficit.

Maybe it is because, as Rod Dreher wrote, your Tea Party always "talked a big game about ending corporate welfare and the corrupt Big Government + Big Business alliance," but never delivered

Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse
   10/24/11 23:37

In other news; more Americans favor than oppose...free pizza every Friday. (Pollsters did NOT ask whether or not the pizza should actually be paid for by anyone.)

Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse
   10/25/11 07:49

When your platform (at least, as explained by the MSM) is "tax the rich and give the money to me," and the best you can do is 30-something % approve...that's not good. Maybe it has something to do with the anti-Semitism, the sexual assaults and the rampant neo-communism. But hey, guys - keep fighting. Make sure everyone in the country hears your voice and knows what you stand for.

Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse
Neo
   10/25/11 09:49

The more you learn about OccuoyWallStreet, the more ignorant you become.
It's sort of like being a drug addict, but with no upside.

Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse
C. Hope
   10/25/11 10:56

Oh Bob,
It's so neat how you want to pretend that there has been anything even close to "fair", or on the level, with regards to "media coverage" of these 2 events.
just imagine if we had an honest press, withOUT an agenda....
Even with such one sided coverage, the Tea Party, without violence, or filth, did manage to sliiiightly impact the 2010 elections no?
You can avoid reality, but you cannot avoid the consequences of avoiding reality.

You can avoid reality Bob, but you cannot avoid the consequences o avoiding reality

Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse
fredb
   10/25/11 12:19

Probably a good sign that national review and others should stop covering this nonsense and let it go away.

Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse
prima facie
   10/27/11 17:06

Um, Bob, what does the lack of a groundswell of cross-partisan support for one loose group of activists have to do with whether a political commentator can comment on another loose group of activists' lack of a groundswell of cross-partisan support?

Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse

Add a Comment

Already Registered? Log In Here.


The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.


* Designates a required field.
© National Review Online 2012
All Rights Reserved.
Subscriptions
NR / Print
NR / Digital

Gift Subscriptions
NR / Print
NR / Digital
NR Apps
iPhone/iPad
Android

NRO Apps
iPhone
Support Us
Donate
Media Kit
Contact