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- iHaveNet.com: Politics
by Douglas Schoen
To be sure, like the
Moreover, members of both movements have vocalized some frustrations that are shared by a broad mass of the American people -- that moneyed interests on Wall Street and K Street have unprecedented levels of influence on government, and that the level of partisanship and gridlock in Washington has paralyzed our governing institutions from serving the people -- with a USA Today/Gallup poll released on Tuesday showing that 64 percent of Americans blame the federal government more than Wall Street for the poor economy.
And indeed, 35 percent of the 198 Occupy Wall Street protesters interviewed by a senior researcher at my polling firm, Arielle Alter Confino, on October 10 and 11 said they would like to see the "Occupy" movement influence the
But the two movements diverge both in terms of their potential impact and whether they are representative of a broader constituency.
The results of the recent Occupy Wall Street survey conducted by my firm suggest that unlike the
Put another way, it speaks directly to what
And indeed, it demonstrated an unprecedented level of influence over primary and general election outcomes, defeating incumbent senators, and helping the
Results of my own research suggests clearly and unambiguously that Occupy Wall Street is not going to do this.
It is certainly telling that at a time when the electorate is split virtually evenly between the two major parties, when we asked Occupy Wall Street protesters to tell us which political party they identify with the most, not a single respondent self-identified as a Republican.
The protesters advocate a worldview that is shared predominantly by engaged progressives who are disillusioned with the capitalist system and have a distinct activist orientation.
They support massive intervention in the economy -- large majorities call for increased regulation of the private sector (70 percent) and more tariffs and protectionist policies to keep American jobs from being outsourced (73 percent).
Sixty-five percent say that government has a moral responsibility to guarantee all citizens access to affordable healthcare, a college education, and a secure retirement -- no matter the cost.
When respondents were asked what they would like to see the Occupy movement achieve in an open-ended question, a plurality (35 percent) said their top goal was for Occupy Wall Street to move the
With 41 percent of the electorate self-identifying as conservative, 36 percent as moderate, and only 21 percent as liberal, it is nearly certain that a movement that is not representative of anything more than a small sliver of "very liberal" voters -- who Gallup has found comprise a mere 9 percent of self-identified Democratic voters, and 6 percent of the electorate overall -- will only push the independents who had voted for President Barack Obama by 52 percent to 44 percent in 2008, and who in 2010 voted for the Republicans 55 percent to 39 percent farther away from a
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'Occupy'-ers Seek Dissolution of Democracy, End of Capitalism | Politics
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