Occupy Wall Street: The GOP Is Making The Same Mistake As Democrats Did With The Tea Party
Democrats are not the reason the Tea Party exists. But by ignoring the Tea Party — or in many cases, mocking it — until it was far too late, Democrats were ill-prepared to deal with the fallout that led to an unmerciful electoral defeat in the 2010 midterm elections. For instance, at one point Democrats were doing Republicans’ work for them. They figured tying the Tea Party to Republicans would yield a negative reaction from voters. Nope, not really. Instead, the Tea Party energized the Republican base and created the wave that rode the GOP to victory.
Occupy Wall Street may or may not be the liberal version of the Tea Party, either way we’ll probably know within the next year. But that’s far too late for the GOP to ignore them, or worse act as though they’ll only have 15 minutes of fame. Here’s a clue, GOP: If you’re still looking at your watch waiting for it to end, use that time wisely and get a strategy.
It’s been two weeks and the protests have gone viral and are now occurring not just in New York City but also in cities in more than 78 countries. The message is as clear as the implications: income inequality has gotten out of control and is untenable. It’s a progressive rallying cry that has tapped into something the Obama administration hasn’t been able to do since early 2009; namely, leverage the sense that people powered by little more than anger and a desire to change government can actually do it.
GOP Needs to Change Message
After all, what does the GOP have to lose by showing empathy for protesters, acknowledging income inequality (which is categorical, not fanciful), and lending their voice to implementing structural change? Most recently, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va) did mention income inequality (for once) on Fox News, claiming that “Republicans are about income mobility, and that’s what we should be focused on to take care of the income disparities.”
Sure, Republicans can make a case for that. Will it be convincing? Probably not. Tax cuts can drop down like manna from heaven but that won’t nourish those who lack critical job skills and higher education. For instance, that message probably isn’t endearing to rural white voters who make less than $40,000 a year. How could it be? That voter barely pays federal taxes as is and is far more concerned about whether or not they’ll have their job the rest of the year much less in five, the economy, Social Security, and Medicare. The Occupy Wall Street message can and will resonate with this voter if the GOP isn’t careful. It is primarily this kind of voter who makes up the majority — roughly two-thirds — of the coveted swing voters group.
So far, the Occupy Wall Street crowds have been dismissed as hipsters gone crazy, violent protesters with little else to do, and general scofflaws. With crowds collectively reaching past the hundreds of thousands mark, clearly those generalizations are inaccurate and are made with the intent to squelch the movement. But even the Tea Party is taking notice. A local Tea Party leader in Indiana told CBS News that she “sees some similarities between how the tea party movement and the Wall Street protests began” and that in the end the critical step is “taking the emotion and focusing it toward changing government.”
Oct 17, 2011 at 12:49 PM
Reader Comments (5)
Also, the moral relativism on display by the OWS crowd represents the finest example of how easily the Boobus Americanus can be so easily manipulated and subverted into the ‘Tax the Rich’ mantra. This movement is as stupid as the “Yes we can” crowd that put this Bozo in the Oval Office. The fact that we have a president that is the least qualified of any candidate is an example of how low we have sunk as a country. His ineffectiveness, his ineptitude, the corrupt nature of the Obama regime is a reflection of how we have lost our way as a nation. These folks scare me more than the bible touting right wingers. These distracted people are easily manipulated into believing their cause. They become uncaring, and become so overtaken by their own immediate desires; they fail to recognize the harm they cause. Folks, if we took all of the “Rich People’s” money it would not solve our problems. Our Problems are structural not social. The TP did not pee in the streets, crap on cop cars, there were no arrests, they did not run naked, and they did not leave mountains of trash in their wake. They had a cohesive-coherent message. The only mistakes similar between Republicans and Democrats is that they were sworn into office.
When the ‘Occupy’ crowd finally grasps that much of Obama’s campaign fund comes from the big boys on Wall Street, will they march on Charlotte next summer?
abcnews.go.com/.../2011/.../obama-bundlers…
www.opensecrets.org/.../2011/.../financial…
thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/.../obama…
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We certainly hope so. This is just the first step of the awakening. Tom, I get your point, but you generalize too broadly. I have provided dozens of example of protesters 'who get it.'
They are not all idiots as you imagine. Some yes, but not all. Not by a longshot. And you still fail to recognize the positive aspects of these protests. This is how you awaken the masses. It takes time.
Oct 17, 2011 at 12:56 PM | Josie
Josie, im with ya on that one. Its to bad DB dident provied us red head, "Itti-Bitti-T*tti" lovers with a link to see the "Clear Picture"..........Its a Shame ? Tex