Poll: 'Occupy Wall St.' much more popular than Obama, tea party

A poll by Time released Thursday, which asked participants' opinions on President Barack Obama's job performance, the impact of the tea party and views of "Occupy Wall Street," contains a startling revelation that the national press hasn't quite pieced together yet: the "Occupy Wall Street" protesters have a higher approval rating than President Obama.

The poll's figures show that President Obama has an approval rating of just 44 percent, with 50 percent disapproving and six percent not sure. That stands in contrast to the 54 percent who say their opinion of "Occupy Wall Street" is either "very favorable" (25 percent) or "somewhat favorable" (29 percent).

Comparatively, the tea party, which has essentially become the Republican Party's attempt at a populist movement, only has a 27 percent approval rating, with just eight percent being "very favorable" and 19 percent being "somewhat favorable."

Overall, the poll found that 65 percent of respondents believe the tea party had either a "negative impact" (40 percent) or very little impact at all (25 percent).

A full 86 percent also agree that Wall Street and its lobbyists have "too much influence in Washington." Furthermore, 68 percent agree that wealthy Americans should pay more in taxes.

Another 89 percent also say that Republicans and Democrats in Congress should work together on policy, rather than harden their intensely partisan positions.

Those opinion dynamics seem to be proof of the logic behind but organizers maintain that the "99 Percent" movement is not partisan.

"Occupy Wall Street" organizers have called for a global day of action to take place on Saturday, Oct. 15. They added that events have been planned in 719 cities in 71 countries around the world, coordinated through a special website dedicated to the Oct. 15 actions that helps interested participants find events near them.