fbpx
Politics Foreign Affairs Culture Fellows Program

OWS gets some blue-collar love

So says Greg Sargent, citing new polling: * In the National Journal poll, 56 percent of non-college-educated whites agree with the protesters; only 31 percent disagree. * In the Time poll, 54 percent of non-college-educated men, and 48 percent of non-college educated women, view the protests favorably. (That’s roughly 51 percent overall.) Meanwhile,only 29 percent of non-college-educated men, and only 19 […]

So says Greg Sargent, citing new polling:

* In the National Journal poll, 56 percent of non-college-educated whites agree with the protesters; only 31 percent disagree.

* In the Time poll, 54 percent of non-college-educated men, and 48 percent of non-college educated women, view the protests favorably. (That’s roughly 51 percent overall.) Meanwhile,only 29 percent of non-college-educated men, and only 19 percent of non-college-educated women, disagree. (That’s roughly 23 percent.)

The sample sizes were reasonable, too: In the National Journal poll, 384 non-college-educated respondents were polled; in the Time poll, 379 were surveyed.

I understand the objections to reading too much into this kind of polling. These may be low information voters. They may be reacting to the target of the protests more than registering agreement with the protesters themselves. Occupy Wall Street doesn’t have a specific agenda, which makes it easier for people to back it, and things could change once it starts making specific demands. But all that said, the evidence right now is tilting towards the idea that the protesters’ message may be resonating among voters who are supposedly certain to be alienated by the protests.

Not a bad thing. I don’t think for a minute this means that blue-collar folks are anti-capitalist, as are many of the OWS protesters. I think it means they generally agree that Wall Street is too big for its britches — as do I, as do many conservatives. The interesting thing about this data, if it’s truly representative of reality, is that anger and alienation at the financial sector’s behavior is greater than the cultural divide. If there’s follow-through on this — I mean, if someone with an actual plan could speak to this frustration and harness it for constructive, real reform — it could be huge. That man is not Barack Obama. And it’s not anybody likely to be the GOP nominee.

Elizabeth Warren, your moment is coming.

(Via Sullivan.)

Advertisement

Comments

Want to join the conversation?

Subscribe for as little as $5/mo to start commenting on Rod’s blog.

Join Now