Originally posted at Writeindependent.org on December 1, 2011
The answer is no, not for now. That would dilute the “platform” of not having a party.
Is it time for the movement to become political?
The answer is yes, and the movement is moving online, showing up as Occupy The Ballot dot org.
Krist Novoselic of Nirvana fame, writes in the Seattle Weekly Blog: “In the 1st Congressional District, [in Washington] where the boundaries aren’t even official yet, eight candidates are already declared for the open U.S. House seat. That means the base threshold to win the primary and enter the runoff is 12.5 percent!”
Primaries would help legitimize new candidates who run on the Occupytheballot website, who have signed their Candidate Pledge and adopted their populist agenda.
The hard part is finding those new candidates.
Zachary Stark-McMillan who designed and runs the OTB website is searching for people to run as new candidates, utilizing the ground swell that is Occupy. He is optimistic that over time, changes will reflect the will of the people.
If Occupy is to become more organized, the political arena will be the its inevitable agency of action.