A nationwide UMass Lowell/Boston Herald poll, conducted before the Occupy Oakland General Strike, finds that Occupy Wall Street is more popular than Wall Street and large corporations. At the same time it finds that more people have an unfavorable impression of Occupy Wall Street than a favorable one, though Occupy Wall Street is substantially less unpopular than the Tea Party.
In a representative sampling of 1,005 adults nationally Oct. 28-Nov.1, 35 percent have a favorable impression of Occupy Wall Street and 40 percent unfavorable, compared to 29 percent favorable and 50 percent unfavorable toward the Tea Party. Ten percent view both movements favorably and 22 percent have unfavorable impressions of both; 24 percent gave no opinion about Occupy Wall Street, 21 percent about the Tea Party. Impressions of big business and the government in Washington were far more negative:
Only 16% of those surveyed have a favorable impression of Wall Street and large corporations, while 71% have an unfavorable view. Only 21% have a favorable impression of the government in Washington, while 71% have an unfavorable view.
80% of those polled say that Wall Street and large corporations have too much influence while 39% think that labor unions have too much influence.
With respect to demographic factors, this poll found that higher income people have a more favorable view of Occupy Wall Street than lower income people.
Curiously, lower-income voters are least favorable toward Occupy Wall Street; among adults with less than $50,000 in household income last year, 28 percent view the movement positively and 42 percent negatively, while views are split about evenly among those who make more than $100,000 a year (41 percent favorable, 43 percent unfavorable). Unfavorable views outnumber favorable opinions of the Tea Party pretty evenly across the income spectrum.
Younger people are more likely to have favorable impressions of Occupy Wall Street; those 18-24 are 44% favorable. Non-white people are more favorable than white people (42% vs. 32%). People in the northeast are most favorable (43%); those in the South are the least favorable (31%).
The poll asked respondents for their "impressions", favorable or unfavorable, rather than asking whether they supported or opposed Occupy Wall Street and the Tea Party. Results of the poll have been reported in various places including the Boston Herald and the New York Daily News.