Maybe I don't get around much anymore, but where do such PETA protests against baby-stem-cell-using, blind-mice-abusing research show up in the news?
PETA opposes all animal research. Emory University here in Atlanta is one of the leading centers in the country for primate research, and the protesters drop by at least once a month. It doesn't make the news very often, because it's a dog-bites-man story.
The press, and the vast majority of Americans, have tuned them out. That's why they have to storm the stage at fashion shows or recruit naked celebrities to get attention these days.