giveNow_Button
News Regional & State News More Pennsylvanians back Occupy movements than Tea Party
Thursday, 03 November 2011 14:47

More Pennsylvanians back Occupy movements than Tea Party

Written by  Megan Lello, witf Reporter and Producer

(Harrisburg) -- A new poll shows nearly half of Pennsylvanians surveyed support the Occupy movements that have cropped up around the state. In the Franklin and Marshall College survey, 49 percent of respondents say they back the protests, compared to 39 percent who favor the Tea Party movement. Jennifer Stefano is the organizer of a Philadelphia-based Tea Party group, the Loyal Opposition. She tells witf's Radio Smart Talk the groups might agree on some major principles, but the similarities end there. "If you are on the side of the rights of individuals, then we don't have a quarrel. How to protect those rights, we can talk about," she says. "But my biggest concern of this movement is that they'd rather be taken care of than be free." Jefferson Pepper of the Occupy Harrisburg movement says he sees some crossover between the groups. "We have a lot of people who were involved in the Tea Party coming down to our local rally," he says. "One gentleman, I thought, put it in a really good way. He said the Tea Party became more about 'me, me, me,' whereas the Occupy movement is about the 'we.'" Both groups say they're angry about the financial downturn in the country and want to work to improve the economy on the community, state, and national levels.

Megan Lello, witf Reporter and Producer

Megan Lello, witf Reporter and Producer

E-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Add comment


Security code
Refresh

Stay Connected to witf

Ticket Giveaway Button
ListenLIVE_Button
WatchNow_Button

Support for witf is provided by:

Become a witf sponsor today »

Latest News from NPR

Support for witf is provided by:

Become a witf sponsor today »