“We are the 99%!” – that was the cry chanted tirelessly by the group of several hundred OccupyDC protesters who marched down the streets of Washington D.C. to the White House this weekend, supporting a hodgepodge of ideas ranging from increased taxation of the rich to reforming education to ending corporatism in politics. Simultaneously just a few miles away, the DC Values Voter Summit hosted the GOP Straw Poll, where Ron Paul received a decisive victory of 37%, easily trumping Herman Cain’s 23% and Rick Santorum’s 16%.
Liberal protesters and conservative voters – what could be more different? Before coming to Washington D.C., I expected the two events to be as polar as any two opposites could be, but the cries of “End the Fed!”, complaints over bank bailouts, and hatred of foreign wars at both events struck me as a surprising overlap between both ends of the spectrum that could not be ignored.
Walks on Washington
Comprised of students, hipsters, hippies, and the overgrown middle-aged counterparts to each, the OccupyDC protesters had a jumbled mix of complaints and goals. While the majority of protesters supported increasing taxes on the wealthy and ending corporate influence in politics, the list of “goals” written out by members of the protest stretched in every different direction. While most protesters supported the other goals of ending the foreign wars and abolishing the Federal Reserve, there were even more assorted demands such as restoring small farms, improving infrastructure, or abolishing capitalism and the state altogether.
The mix of ideas that were scattered among the crowd seemed to dilute their main arguments and muddle the focus of their message, indeed showing that they did represent the 99% – the true, divided United States. Regardless, the protest united a mass of people through a several-mile march through the streets of DC featuring some great picket signs, including “Glenn Beck is my Dad!” and “I’m an English Major!”
Core Conservatism
On the other end of the political spectrum, the Values Voter Summit had its own share of spectacles to behold, including a man dressed in colonial-era attire (the conservative version of a hippie?), but a similar discontent voiced by the citizens who attended. Featuring speakers Glenn Beck, John Boehner, Eric Cantor, Laura Ingraham, and many of the Republican presidential candidates, the event seemed to be a hotbed of conservatism.
Indeed, the sponsor booths were enough to prove so: distributing goodies such as the Heritage Action Scorecard for scoring the members of Congress based on votes for balanced budgets and other conservative issues (Cambridge’s own Rep. Michael Capuano scoring a 16%), the several leaflets from the Institute for Creation Research arguing that dinosaurs lived in the same time period as humans, and the literature dedicated to upholding “traditional American values” showed clearly that there were many well-defined conservatives sponsoring the events and the candidates (from whom I now have plenty of copies of the Constitution).
Unobserved Overlap
The two groups superficially couldn’t seem more different. However, when the chants of “End the Fed!” were chanted by Ron Paul supporters at the summit, it was harder to distinguish which event I was attending. When Paul’s denouncements of our foreign wars, corporatism in Washington, and bank bail-outs were met with standing ovations from his supporters, the protesters’ message seemed to be just as present, if not stronger, at the conservative summit. The “Don’t Tread On Me” symbol was displayed at both events, and there were even Ron Paul supporters at the protest. Clearly the two ends of the spectrum overlap, but do the labels of “liberal” and “conservative” prevent the two sides from seeing their common thread? And if this common thread is realized, will Ron Paul win more than 37% of the 99%?
That depends. Other areas of the two groups are more opposed: while most of the Occupy protesters favor an increased tax of the wealthy to create funding for redistributive programs, Paul supports tax cuts and a scale-back of government-run welfare. This certainly puts the two groups at odds with one another – in fact, a Paul supporter at the OccupyDC protest was asked if he was wearing his “Atlas Shrugged” T-shirt ironically. However, Ron Paul is also an ardent supporter of giving more power back to state governments, which gives the flexibility needed for states to pursue welfare programs of their own if they choose. That stance, which does not rule out welfare from the lives of citizens, could potentially mend relations between the two groups on that issue, but it seems a long shot.
Another strong connection between the two would be their consideration as “marginal.” Despite Paul’s wins in the Values Voter Summit, CPAC, and California straw polls (plus a strong second place in the Ames poll), the media frequently ignores his success and labels him as more of a spoiler than anything else (see Jon Stewart’s hilarious segment on how the media never mentions him). Likewise, the Occupy Wall Street protests are being frequently lampooned as aimless, often likened to the Tea Party in its formative stages, making any kind of message it promotes lose credibility.
Even so, the Republican debate in New Hampshire on Tuesday evening demonstrated that both groups have had a strong impact. Ron Paul’s idea of ending, or at least auditing, the Federal Reserve came up frequently in the debate, and there were multiple references to the Occupy Wall Street movement by both the moderators and candidates.
So how can Occupy Wall Street be taken more seriously as a collective? Solidifying their demands would certainly help. While Paul’s ideas are not always considered “mainstream,” their consistency is never contested, which has helped them gain relevance in the broader discussion. By determining several key goals and values, the Occupy movement could gain the momentum it needs to push a new progressive agenda.