Author Mike Taibbi among others are correct when he says in Rolling Stone:
And I think the movement's basic strategy – to build numbers and stay in the fight, rather than tying itself to any particular set of principles – makes a lot of sense early on. But the time is rapidly approaching when the movement is going to have to offer concrete solutions to the problems posed by Wall Street. To do that, it will need a short but powerful list of demands.emphasis added
And certainly he has an informed perspective and viewpoint. But taking a few informed viewpoints, be they Sen. Bernie Sanders, (his suggestions) candidate Elizabeth Warren, (her views on video) Rep. Barney Frank (his views on banking reform) or even Kossack LaGreca (many views) is not the proper process nor the way to punch through this three to four decade mendacity we call a political economy regulated by self-government OF THE PEOPLE..
My suggestion (and of course it can be modified) is to effectively and simultaneously move this to a working parallel democratic movement to actually effect the levers of power in government. The strategy is three-fold;
A. Develop a coherent and substantial list of demands from a grassroots process that was built through consensus and participation by all of us who have disenfranchised by the system. The system would seek for each local Occupy Chapter to meet, organize among themselves using democratic structures, and convene a town-hall meeting for the purposes of formally establishing a set of demands to be considered by a national convention. Each chapter would then elect their own leaders and delegates who would go to a State Convention/Meeting and present their demands. The working state convention will also organize, elect leaders and propose a set of agreed upon demands by the state body that would be taken to a national convention. This too would entail electing state delegates who would be chosen to attend a still to be determined national convention. At the national convention all state demands will be heard and through a working process eventually an agreed upon consensus of national demands will be developed and formalized for presentation to the nation and the political system.
B. The process itself will create two things; legitimize the movement as a genuine American patriotic and democratic institution seeking to petition grievances to the government for redress. This would not be a formal political party but seek to cross all partisan divides, though it would give voice and a process to make those voices heard. It will also engineer a purpose and process for most communities to organize and contribute to a non-responsive government. It will substantially grow the ranks and movement. Concurrently, a strategy of continued non violent protest be maintained at strategic locations throughout the country for the purposes of providing a 24/7 reminder that the leaders of the government allowed this social and economic justice to develop and that they have not done the job in fixing the problem. Occupy participants will not leave the landscape until these problems are permanently resolved.
C. The end result is that during an election year Occupy supporters will be able to consolidate and engineer genuine political power affecting current and future political leaders to respond. The agreed upon demands can be communicated to each political party and their candidates seeking national and local offices where the members and supporters of the movement can then make qualified judgments as to whom is actually representing the people's business and needs.
This is no different than what the Continental colonialists did when they convened their Continental Congress in Philadelphia and eventually agreed upon a Declaration of Independence after submitting earlier demands to the Crown and Parliament. Through an orderly and representative process our current movement and the demands for change would gain absolute legitimacy.
This is my suggestion, conceived by an old-timer political scientist who has protested many causes, participated in both 3rd Party and Mainstream Party organizations, been a campaign and issue activist, and someone screwed over and over again by the system. It is time to turn the tables, but it has to be done correctly. We will be challenged, marginalized, oppressed, arrested, subjected to false narratives, we will fight among ourselves and see provocateurs infiltrate our ranks and cause, and yet we will succeed and overcome if we maintain the discipline to do this right.