Does Occupy Wall Street Have a Future in Politics?

[ellisonz]

By Nate Rawlings | February 21, 2012

As Occupy Wall Street regroups for upcoming spring demonstrations, the movement has re-entered the headlines, but not for the marches and arrests seen last fall.

In January, Nathan Kleinman, a member of the Occupy Philadelphia movement, became what is believed to be the first person from the Occupy movement to run for Congress. Kleinman told Politico when he filed for his candidacy, ”You need 1,000 signatures and a hundred dollars. It’s a pretty low bar.” He has taken to Twitter and Facebook to promote what will likely be an uphill fight against Democratic incumbent Allyson Schwartz.

Then, just this week, John Paul Thornton of Decatur, Ala., filed paperwork to create the Occupy Wall Street Political Action Committee. The filing created some buzz on Occupy’s message boards, with many questioning whether it’s possible to fight corruption by partaking in tools that many feel allow for the corruption in the first place.

So do these developments signal a shift in Occupy’s focus from demonstrations to political engagement? The short answer is no.” Occupy erupted because the political system is corroded and corrupted, many would say completely broken,” says William Dobbs, a press liaison from Occupy Wall Street’s New York base. ”There are lots of approaches, but you can’t fix a legislature with a person or a PAC.”

Read more: http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/02/21/does-occupy-wall-street-have-a-future-in-politics/?xid=rss-topstories#ixzz1n40TClUT

[Luminous Animal]

1. Occupy Wall Street may officially denounce Thorton's PAC.

Csapo, a volunteer organizer who handles communications for the the campaign, said he has contacted Thornton to change the name of the Occupy super PAC or else disassemble it completely. "Thornton has no connection whatsoever to Occupy Wall Street or the New York General Assembly," insisted Csapo.

He added that Occupy Wall Street organizers in New York City planned to issue a statement on OccupyWallSt.org to officially condemn the use of super PACs.

In Washington, Legba Carrefour, an Occupy DC activist who handles communications for the group, said his organization has never supported using a super PAC to advance its cause. "Been done, been blocked," he said, referring to meetings where members suggested starting a super PAC and the group swiftly voted it down."It went nowhere, no one would support it."

"I think this points to a larger problem with the branding of Occupy," he said. "People have started using the word Occupy very loosely."

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/politics/2012/02/occupy-organizers-call-super-pac-change-name-or-disassemble/48869/

[hootinholler]

2. I kind of hope not

I would really like to see it remain above politics. It would be good for the country to have activism transcend our currently defined political boundaries.