Raleigh, N.C. – As the Occupy Wall Street movement has continued and spread, its esteem in American voters’ eyes has slipped. Last month, when PPP first asked about the movement nationally, voters were split, with 35% supporting the movement’s goals and 36% opposing them. Now, that is 33-45, 11 points worse. Still 52% of Democrats support their goals, but opposition has risen from 16% to 24%. Meanwhile, both Republicans (from 13-59 to 11-71) and independents (from 39-34 to 34-42) have moved 13 or 14 points against O.W.S.
That now makes the movement less popular than its right-wing counterpart, the Tea Party. 42% support that movement’s goals, and 45% oppose them. It was 39-45 in the previous survey. When asked of which movement they have a higher opinion, voters side with the Tea Party now, 43-37, a reverse of last month’s 40-37 in favor of O.W.S. Democrats (from 62-9 for O.W.S. to 58-12) and Republicans (from 11-71 to 10-78) have each moved seven or eight points toward favoring the Tea Party, while independents have shifted 13 points, from 43-34 to 40-44.
Both Democrats and Republicans in Congress remain almost equally reviled. 28% approve and 63% disapprove of Congressional Democrats’ job performance, only one point on the margin better than Republicans’ 26-62, the same situation as last month, when the two parties were at a respective 26-62 and 25-62.
The Republicans’ leader in Congress has far better favor with voters, but is still quite unpopular. Speaker John Boehner gets the nod from 30% of Americans and a thumb’s down from 46%, a five-point improvement from 27-48 last month.
If voters had to choose between the candidates of these two hated parties on their congressional ballot, they would tie at 45%, a three-point improvement for the GOP from a 45-42 Democratic advantage last month.
PPP surveyed 800 American voters from November 10th to 13th. The margin of error for the survey is +/-3.5%. This poll was not paid for or authorized by any campaign or political organization. PPP surveys are conducted through automated telephone interviews. PPP is a Democratic polling company, but polling expert Nate Silver of the New York Times found that its surveys in 2010 actually exhibited a slight bias toward Republican candidates.
Topline results are below. Full results, including crosstabs, can be found here.
Q1 Do you approve or disapprove of the job John
Boehner is doing?
Approve …………………………………………………. 30%
Disapprove……………………………………………… 46%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 24%
Q2 Do you approve or disapprove of the job
Congressional Democrats are doing?
Approve …………………………………………………. 28%
Disapprove……………………………………………… 63%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 10%
Q3 Do you approve or disapprove of the job
Congressional Republicans are doing?
Approve …………………………………………………. 26%
Disapprove……………………………………………… 62%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 12%
Q4 Do you think the Republicans are doing a
better job than the Democrats did while in
charge of the House of Representatives, a
worse job, or about the same?
A better job …………………………………………….. 37%
A worse job …………………………………………….. 41%
About the same……………………………………….. 21%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 1%
Q5 If there was an election for Congress today,
would you vote for the Democratic or
Republican candidate from your district?
Democrat ……………………………………………….. 45%
Republican……………………………………………… 45%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 10%
Q6 Do you support or oppose the goals of the
Occupy Wall Street movement?
Support ………………………………………………….. 33%
Oppose ………………………………………………….. 45%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 22%
Q7 Do you support or oppose the goals of the Tea
Party movement?
Support ………………………………………………….. 42%
Oppose ………………………………………………….. 45%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 13%
Q8 Do you have a higher opinion of the Occupy
Wall Street movement or the Tea Party
movement?
Occupy Wall St. ………………………………………. 37%
Tea Party ……………………………………………….. 43%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 20%
Q9 Would you describe yourself as very liberal,
somewhat liberal, moderate, somewhat
conservative, or very conservative?
Very liberal ……………………………………………… 12%
Somewhat liberal …………………………………….. 15%
Moderate………………………………………………… 31%
Somewhat conservative……………………………. 24%
Very conservative ……………………………………. 19%
Q10 If you are a woman, press 1. If a man, press 2.
Woman ………………………………………………….. 51%
Man……………………………………………………….. 49%
Q11 If you are a Democrat, press 1. If a Republican,
press 2. If you are an independent or identify
with another party, press 3.
Democrat ……………………………………………….. 41%
Republican……………………………………………… 36%
Independent/Other…………………………………… 23%
Q12 If you are Hispanic, press 1. If white, press 2.
If African-American, press 3. If other, press 4.
Hispanic…………………………………………………. 10%
White …………………………………………………….. 73%
African-American …………………………………….. 11%
Other……………………………………………………… 5%
Q13 If you are 18 to 29 years old, press 1. If 30 to
45, press 2. If 46 to 65, press 3. If you are
older than 65, press 4.
18 to 29………………………………………………….. 12%
30 to 45………………………………………………….. 28%
46 to 65………………………………………………….. 40%
Older than 65………………………………………….. 20%