Primary Highlights Collapse of Tea Party, Rise of Occupy

The Washington Post documents the dramatic fall in support for the tea party movement among New Hampshire voters.

An NBC News/Marist poll released late Friday showed that for the first time, 53 percent of likely Republican primary voters said they are not supporters of the tea party, while 40 percent said they are supporters and seven percent were unsure.

The latest Suffolk University/7 News tracking poll shows an even more drastic shift. … Now, in the latest tracking poll, support for the movement has plummeted 11 points – from 48 percent to 37 percent of likely GOP primary voters. Opposition has risen four points, from 40 percent to 44 percent. Nineteen percent are undecided.

In the wake of this collapse, Occupy New Hampshire coalesced around an effort to counter the Republican narrative and has taken center stage during the final days of the primary campaign.

Directly across the street from the Radisson is a park, which has been turned into an encampment, with a circle of tents and an information shack, and a rotating cast of protesters on the sidewalk in front. This is the heart of Occupy New Hampshire…

At any given moment the vast majority of Occupy activists are not in the park but out at campaign events, peacefully but forcefully making their voices heard. According to organizers, there are roughly 600 people taking part in Occupy activities in New Hampshire right now.

Leaving the Romney rally there was a sizable crowd of Occupy protesters playing music, handing out literature and bearing signs. … [T]hey are providing a counter-message to the relentless conservatism voters and reporters are repeatedly exposed to on the campaign trail.