A new Public Policy Polling poll shows that Occupy Wall Street may not speak for the ’99 percent’ it claims to represent.
After an 11-point shift in one month, 45 percent of Americans now oppose the movement, the poll indicates, indicating that public opinion has turned against the self-styled “occupiers.” Just 33 percent favor the movement, down from 35 a month ago.
Significantly, the movement’s support among independent voters has waned. The report notes independents have “gone from supporting Occupy Wall Street’s goals 39–34, to opposing them 34–42.”
Last month, 35 percent supported the movement and 36 percent opposed it, a statistical tie. But after a rash of violent incidents, including several and clashes with police, more Americans have wearied of the anti-corporate protests that have entrenched themselves in public squares in dozens of cities and towns.
Occupy Oakland was among the worst, where protesters shut down the nation’s fifth-busiest port and ignored four eviction notices before police drown them out Monday morning.
But Oakland’s tent city was just one of those evicted recently. This week police cleared parks of protesters in Salt Lake City, Denver, Portland, Ore. and Chapel Hill, N.C., and most visibly rousted demonstrators out of Zuccotti Park in New York City.
U.S. Park Police say the person who shot a bullet that lodged in a White House window Friday night may have been connected to the Occupy DC camp, ABC reports. Both the D.C. Council and labor unions headquartered in the nation’s capital continue to express strong approval for what detractors now call an “Obamaville” that remains just a few blocks from the White House.
The Public Policy Polling poll also shows a marginal increase in support for the tea party, with 42 percent supporting that movement’s goals — up from 39 a month ago — and 45 percent opposing.