One would think that the Occupy movement and San Francisco were made for each other. Perhaps at one time they were, but a new Survey USA poll shows that even the City by the Bay has its limits. The poll of 500 adults in the San Francisco area — surely the most progressive-friendly poll sample ever taken — shows that almost half of those who supported the Occupy movement in general now have changed their minds.
The topline results break down thusly:
- Supported/Still do: 32%
- Supported/Now oppose: 26%
- Opposed/Now support: 3%
- Opposed/Still do: 31%
- Not sure: 8%
According to this poll, Occupy support in the Bay area would have been 58/34 at one point. Now it’s 35/57, which is a flip of 46 points in the gap. Combining support and opposition numbers, Democrat support for Occupy is now 40/56, and even among self-professed liberals, where 27% have switched to opposition, it’s only 52/35. Among San Francisco adults. Note too that the movement has not gained converts in anything like the numbers they are alienating, which means that the longer they go, the weaker they are getting politically.
In San Francisco. Nancy Pelosi’s home turf. The city that banned Happy Meals because parents were being held hostage by their children. The mind boggles.
The notion of “occupying” vacant buildings for their operations as some form of social justice also doesn’t go over as well as one might expect in the area. Only 21% support the idea, eleven points lower than the movement’s remaining support, while 71% oppose it. Even the youngest demographic, which still has a very narrow plurality supporting the movement (43/41) opposes this idea by a wide majority, 32/59.
But the best is yet to come. No one in this area is ever happy with the police. Eric Burdon once hailed the city in “San Francisco Nights,” praising the Hells Angels while warbling, “Cop’s face is filled with hate; heavens above, he’s on a street called Love.” (Needless to say, the entire song is dreck.) They’re not happy with the police in this instance, though, because the police haven’t been harsh enough with the occupiers. Twenty-eight percent say the police have been too harsh, while 35% say they’ve been “just about right” … and 33% say they need to get harsher.
When the Great Progressive Event has a third of adults in San Francisco looking for a police crackdown, I’d call that nuking the fridge.
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