Republicans initially overreacted, as if Karl Marx had risen from the grave. Mitt Romney was so flustered that he almost mussed his hair. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, surveying the small protest encampments in New York and other cities, called them \u201cgrowing mobs\u201d that threatened public order.<\/p>\n
Within a week, however, Cantor was backing away from that \u201cmobs\u201d characterization and acknowledging \u201ca growing frustration out there across this country\u201d about unemployment. I\u2019m guessing he must have seen the Time magazine poll indicating that 54 percent of Americans have a favorable view of the Occupy New York protest \u2014 versus just 27 percent who have a favorable view of the Tea Party.<\/p>\n
This week\u2019s New Yorker has a laugh-out-loud cover illustration: Top-hatted bankers march down Wall Street, carrying protest signs that say \u201cKeep Things Precisely As They Are,\u201d \u201cLeave Well Enough Alone\u201d and \u201cI\u2019m Good, Thanks.\u201d That\u2019s the danger for Republican candidates. That\u2019s what they risk sounding like.<\/p>\n