This week, Douglas Schoen, a former Democratic pollster for Bill Clinton, conducted a polling sample of the Occupy Wall Street protesters, in person at New York city's Zuccotti Park. What he found was not, as White House has recently claimed, a cross section of the American public in line with the current frustrations against government. It also was not a group that was compiled of people of different political values, as the Drive-By Media has claimed, and it certainly was not a protest of government corporatism, as a libertarian friend claimed early in the protests. Rather, as Schoen stated in his article in the Wall Street Journal:
Our research shows clearly that the movement doesn't represent unemployed America and is not ideologically diverse. Rather, it comprises an unrepresentative segment of the electorate that believes in radical redistribution of wealth, civil disobedience and, in some instances, violence.
The realities of this poll flies in the face of the presentation of the protests by the Left. Some specific details are quite stark. For example:
- The vast majority of demonstrators are actually employed, and the proportion of protesters unemployed (15%) is within single digits of the national unemployment rate (9.1%).
- 65% say that government has a moral responsibility to guarantee all citizens access to affordable health care, a college education, and a secure retirement—no matter the cost.
- By a large margin (77% support to 22% oppose), they support raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans.
- Half (52%) have participated in a political movement before.
- Virtually all (98%) say they would support civil disobedience to achieve their goals.
- Nearly one-third (31%) would support violence to advance their agenda.
How about the fact that over 50% of the group have participated in political movements before? I mean, isn't the Occupy Wall Street Protest supposed to be the liberal Tea Party? I mean the Tea Party is made up mostly of people who have never participated in political movements, and certainly not half made up of conservative political activist types. The Tea Party has some, of course (you're reading one of them right now) but it's largely made up of people just now joining the political fray.
What about the fact that 31% would support violence to advance their agenda? It's like this group has Communists, Anarchists, and Nazis in it...oh wait it does.
Or my favorite, 65% think government has a responsibility to "guarantee all citizens access to affordable health care, a college education, and a secure retirement—no matter the cost." Because most conservatives and moderates believe that money grows on trees if you explain that a particular expenditure is really, super duper important, right? Oh, wait...that's pretty much a uniquely liberal mentality.
My friends, Occupy Wall Street is precisely what everyone from major conservative commentators to lowly conservative internet bloggers: A group of leftists and Causeheads with a healthy dose of communist and anarchist revolutionaries who would support violent revolt to gain their goals. This is not a mainline protest. At all. Mark my words, President Obama and the Democrats are going to regret supporting this movement when election day comes. I guarantee it.
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Overall Source: Polling the Occupy Wall Street Crowd
