Occupy vs. Tea Party a good discussion

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) - A day after WANE-TV became the first local station in the country to host a live televised forum between the Tea Party and Occupy movements, a political analyst called the forum a success.

Andy Downs with the Mike Downs Center for Indiana Politics, which helped organize the event, said the night gave both groups good exposure. A post on a national discussion board previewed the forum and a tea party participant said he received feedback from across the country from people who watched the discussion on wane.com.

"I think there's potential for this to grow," Downs said. "There's the opportunity to recruit more people because of the increased visibility. I think that is one of the things the two groups would say is beneficial."

Three members of Occupy Fort Wayne and three Tea Party members discussed several topics from bank bailouts to the national debt. Click here to watch the forum.

The six actually agreed on a lot of points, but there was also a lot of spirited debate. Downs said the biggest divider was over government regulation.

"They both agree that the relationship of government and the private sector is not healthy right now. The question was how do we resolve that. For members of the Tea party, they seemed to say a lot the less government, in other words the freer the market, the better off we're going to be, while Occupy says, no, we know that hasn't worked before therefore there has to regulation," Down said. 

Downs added forums like this can be a good way for people to hear more about the groups' different views.

"After last night, I witnessed several people from both sides talking with one another and any time you get different points of view talking with one another that's a good thing," he said.

The night wasn't an actual debate, but Downs thinks both sides did a good job.

"There were moments when each side played a little loose with the facts and times when they were inconsistent with their theory or philosophy, but in the end I thought both sides did pretty well," he said.

So, where does the discussion go from here? Downs sees potential for substantial political influence if the two groups joined on common ground.

"There are a couple of places where the two groups might be able to converge and as a whole, end up having significant impact," he said.