Seventy-one percent of Americans have an unfavorable impression of big business and Washington, study finds

Cindy Allen

LOWELL, Massachusetts , November 7, 2011 (Associated Press) – A new national poll released Sunday shows neither Wall Street nor Occupy Wall Street conjuring up strong favorable impressions among the American public.

But protesters fared better than their wealthy corporate targets in the poll conducted for the University of Massachusetts at Lowell and the Boston Herald.

Among 1,005 adults surveyed, 35 percent had a favorable impression of the protest movement that began in New York City and gained support worldwide. Only 16 percent could say the same for Wall Street and large corporations.

Twenty-nine percent had a favorable impression of the tea party movement and 21 percent of government in Washington.

Knowledge Networks conducted the survey, asking participants their impressions of the four groups.

Wall Street and large corporations tied with Washington government in unpopularity, with 71 percent of those polled saying they had an unfavorable impression of big business and Washington. The tea party got a 50 percent unfavorable response and Occupy Wall Street 40 percent.

The group surveyed was selected randomly and the poll conducted online from Oct. 28 through Nov. 1. It had a margin of error of 3.8 percentage points, meaning the results could go up or down by that amount.

Last month, an Associated Press-GfK poll showed some 37 percent supported the Wall Street protesters. Fifty-eight percent said they were furious about America's politics, up from 49 percent in January.

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