Is the Anti-Trump 'Resistance' the New Tea Party?

I agree with you that the media mostly dissed the Tea Party (which likely fed the movement), and are way on board with this movement.

I also agree it is early days, and that only time can tell for sure whether the current movement has legs.

Finally, I agree with what I think you're at least hinting at -- which is that the Occupy movement didn't have legs.

But I do see a big difference between the Occupy movement and this one.

By and large, the average person was pretty "pfft" about the Occupy movement -- certainly after the first little bit. A bunch of young activists got very revved up, but even they had trouble telling you what they wanted out of it, and to the extent they could, they had not the foggiest clue how one might go about getting there.  (To many of us living here in NYC, it quickly became no more than a mere nuisance.)  Near as I could tell, the protestors thought 1% of the population had too much money! Those Wall Street types for one! OK, fine. So. What exactly can we do about that? Storm their offices and demand their money? Really -- what? They didn't know.  So they blocked subway entrances (preventing 99%ers from getting to work), littered, pissed all over the place, did drugs and got drunk, and made noise).  Seriously, that's how it felt in these parts pretty early in the game.

Moreover, most Americans at some level admire successful people, assuming they aren't crooks. Sure, we hate the Madoffs, but I think most of us give props to self-made millionaires and don't particularly resent heirs unless they are jackasses in some ways. Yeah, some do, but most Americans, I submit, don't inherently resent people with lots of money. Certainly not enough to sit around protesting about it.  So they didn't get very broad sympathy, certainly not of the kind that lasts.

This movement, on the other hand -- LOTS of people despise Trump. It's not a small group, and those who hate him, hate him a lot. And many see him and his administration as actively hurting things they care about, and/or that directly impact them. They felt that way before the election, and even more so since he got in. It's picked up more steam, sweeping up people who were at least somewhat inclined initially to give him some benefit of the doubt.

(I'm one of them, FWIW. I always disliked him, but was sincerely hoping he'd turn out to be more mainstream conservative once he got in, and that much of his election bluster would turn out to be hot air. But his explosion of executive orders, his cabinet choices, his continual cringe-inducing tweeting, his alternative facts, that execrable Kellyanne Conway -- every day, I find myself getting more concerned about him and our country. And I'm a person who definitely does not feel that way about all conservatives and Republicans. I didn't feel that way about Romney. I don't feel that way about Gorsuch (indeed, I'm inclined to like him, and certainly I respect him). But Trump and Bannon? They scare me!)

This movement is sweeping in friends of mine who are law firm partners, bankers, and federal judges -- people with money and influence, people who don't jump on every bandwagon. They aren't just talking about it -- they're protesting, getting involved, making calls, volunteering, donating.

Whether it will last -- I can't say for sure, but I think it goes way deeper and broader than Occupy ever did. And there is a specific target to aim at: Trump. His orders. His nominees. His tweets. Also Bannon et al. There are congress critters to importune (to the extent they aren't importuning us -- I'm getting emails from Jerry Nadler every other day), in the hopes of blocking some of the damage.

Moving in legal circles as I do, I'm amazed and impressed with how many friends, colleagues, and former classmates are actively involved in this. Literally overnight, immigration lawyers organized to help visa and greencard holders at the airport and to put together habeas petitions on their behalf, and to form groups to train other lawyers so they could help, too. My classmates have been using their influence with Republicans in some position to make a difference. I've never seen anything quite like it.

That being the case, I don't think it's going to die soon or easily. I think it is much more akin to the Tea Party in that respect than to Occupy.

It was protest or play Angry Birds.

Stuff and nonsense.

Lots of Republicans didn't show up to vote for McCain or Romney. Why didn't they fall in line?

The idea that so many Dems were pouting to the extent that they would allow someone like Trump to be president because Hillary wasn't Bernie is absurd. Sure, there were some pouters, but no more so than Repubs who voted third party or not at all, in the previous two elections.

It was the swing voters. The voters who embody the very things you claim belongs to the Dems -- they fall in love, they vote emotionally, and may I add, they're fucking idiots. 'Scuse my French.

Oh for Christ's sake. We're talking about TRUMP.

I voted for McCain in 2008, and for Johnson in 2012. No, I'm not saying any of what you inferred. FFS.

I don't think it was idiotic to vote third party this election, either, though I ultimately did not.

The only thing I think is dumb is to vote for a candidate who totally goes against everything you believe in over a candidate who does stand for what you believe in.

But that's not really a "swing voter." It's more like a revenge voter.

It's not hard for me to see how someone could dislike both Trump and Clinton enough to go third party or stay home. ( I think there were a lot more voters who did that than, say, Bernie voters who got mad and went Trump.) I'm sorry it worked out that way, since I'd have much preferred to see Clinton win and obviously am not happy about Trump.

ETA:

re: Opty's post:

It makes me crazy that so many people pay no attention to mid-term votes.  I really hope people get engaged this time out. Surely the next two years should show why it matters.

Yes, I did make broad claims about voting patterns. And, at the end, I specifically applied them to the upcoming 2018 midterms.

YOU are the one who took my broad claims (which I gladly backed up with evidence, when you offered none) and characterized them as if they were only about the Presidential election.

I still don't think you get how your response was wrong and totally missed my overall point.

Huh, I didn't realize it came from Bill. Learn somethin' new every day.

And, I'm chuckling at the jumping-the-gun naivete of Silver's article. Just a few short months after it was written, the Repubs absolutely did fall in line, contrary to pretty much everything he claimed in that article.