For the life of me I can’t figure out why.

(Boston Herald) — The Occupy Wall Street movement may be starting to lose its luster with the American public, with four in ten now saying they have an unfavorable view of the protests, a new nationwide UMass Lowell/Boston Herald poll shows.

The online poll of 1,005 American adults reveals that 35 percent still have a positive impression of the Occupy movement, but 40 percent now say they have an unfavorable opinion. About one quarter of the poll respondents had no opinion or were unsure.

The UMass Lowell/Herald poll, conducted Oct. 28 through Nov. 1, is the first to show negative sentiment tilting against the Occupy movement, which has now spread to hundreds of cities, including Boston. Several other comparable national polls conducted earlier in October showed slightly more positive than negative views of the protests.

Mike Mokrzycki, who produced the poll for the UMass Lowell Center for Public Opinion, said it is “possible” the results indicate a shift in sentiment against the Occupy movement, but further polling would have to confirm that. The poll, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.8 percentage points, was conducted just days after widely broadcast images of violent clashes between Occupy protesters and police in Oakland.

From earlier today: Poll Finds Only 33% Have Favorable Opinion of Wall Street Occupiers