Roemer stands by the Protesters in Wall Street. Where are the others?

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Dark-horse GOP presidential candidate Buddy Roemer has been the only contender to embrace the Occupy Wall Street protests in Lower Manhattan and other urban centers. On Tuesday, he plans to join the protests in New York, according a post on his Twitter account Sunday night.

“I am concerned and outraged, as are many, at Wall Street greed. I will be joining Occupy Wall Street NYC Tuesday to see it firsthand,” he wrote.

In some ways, Mr. Roemer makes sense as the Occupy candidate. His campaign accepts only donations of $100 or less, an effort to limit the influence of special interests, the candidate says. Mr. Roemer served four terms as a Democratic congressman from Louisiana, switching to the GOP during his single term as the state’s governor.

If nothing else, showing up in New York could be a rare chance for Mr. Roemer to grab some media attention. Republican leaders have largely denounced the movement, which includes people opposed to big business, war, the American political system and several other causes. Mitt Romney has called it “class warfare.” Rick Perry’s campaign said “the protests don’t make sense or help create jobs.” When asked about Occupy Wall Street last week, former pizza company executive Herman Cain said, “If you don’t have a job and you’re not rich, blame yourself.”

Rep. Ron Paul (R., Texas) and former Sen. Rick Santorum (R., Pa.) have said they empathize with the protesters’ frustration, but they don’t agree with all of their goals.

Democrats, meanwhile, are divided about whether to support the movement, with some fearful the protesters may appear to extreme for middle America.

Occupy Wall Street “is non-partisan,” Mr. Roemer wrote on Twitter. “They are fellow Americans who are uniting against corporate greed and are saying `enough already.’ ”

http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2011/10/10...ll-street/