Recent polls find that the Occupy Wall Street protests attract the sympathies of not just iPad-toting vegan hipsters, but also blue-collar white men. While this may seem a little surprising, it really shouldn’t be. For all the Tea Party’s success as a political movement, it has never been very good at recognizing ordinary people’s legitimate grievances with corporate America and its role in laying the foundation for the Great Recession. The Tea Party wants to place the blame at the feet of government (more specifically, Democrats in government), but most people recognize that the private sector must be held accountable as well. The Occupy movement is an effort–a sometimes inarticulate effort–to bring attention to the yawning class divisions that the recession has laid bare. Why wouldn’t working people be sympathetic with that?
The protests could still fizzle and be quickly forgotten, especially as winter approaches. It needs to start attracting a broader base that is both older and less white. It needs to figure out how to harness the energies of people who work and may not have the time for traditional protesting. But if its organizers can become a little savvier, it could become a true grass-roots movement with wide appeal.
