COMMENTARY | Even though President Barack Obama has tried to embrace the Occupy Wall Street movement, the favor has not been returned. This was in evidence last night when the president was at a fund raiser in New York, according to the New York Times.
About a 100 occupiers marched near the Sheraton Hotel near 53rd and Seventh Street, carrying signs, and shouting accusations against the president for being, in their view, a corporate puppet. This is an astonishing development for a president who rode to the Oval Office on the themes of "hope and change" with the ovations of some of the same people ringing in his ears who are now jeering at him. Such are the fortunes of politics
This comes on the heels of an incident a week ago in which Occupy Wall Street protestors heckled the president during a speech in Manchester, New Hampshire. At the time, Obama tried to identify himself with the protestors, according to ABC News, by talking about how the American dream was, "slipping away."
Apparently Occupy Wall Street is having none of it. This suggests that there is deep discontent for the president from the far left. Almost three years after Obama was sworn into office, economic malaise persists. The promise of hope and change has become the reality of anxiety and despair.
Almost two years ago, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, addressing a tea party convention, jeered, "How's that hopey, changey thing working out for ya?" The answer, coming from Occupy Wall Street, seems to be, "Not much."
How this will affect the 2012 elections are so far a matter of conjecture. It is doubtful, if they bother to vote at all, that any of the Occupy Wall Street protestors will flock to Newt Gingrich or Mitt Romney. But they will certainly not be motivated to turn out for Obama, as they were in 2008. A lot of them will stay home, though if there is a left-wing third party candidate many may decide to support him instead.
Obama's hope of somehow harnessing the Occupy Wall Street movement as a left-wing of the tea party is a pipe dream. Obama was yesterday's messiah. He has turned out to be a false prophet and his erstwhile supporters are out for revenge.
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