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Originally Posted by ZenGum
I'm not sure about this, but I see very little of sub-federal US politics. OWS has had one lasting achievement - getting the idea of the 1% and the 99% into public discussion and into people's minds. The "1%" meme is in; the idea that there is a very small group of very wealthy and powerful people who have essentially corrupted and usurped the democratic process, leaving only a shadow play there for appearances, and are essentially running the country/world for themselves.
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I agree that the Occupy movement did successfully push the income inequality issue to the forefront. However, nothing was done about it in Washington. The Tea Party was able to push the debt issue to the forefront and elect people that are crazy enough to actually try to solve it. I can't imagine that Republicans would have held raising the debt ceiling hostage without the Tea Party influence. Paul Ryan is a direct response to the tea party. There are other instances as well.
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Interesting idea, but I fear that the whiff of power will attract ambitious power-hungry types, who will rapidly turn the new party into much the same as the existing two. Keeping it local might help a bit but pretty soon people who made a start as local mayor for the 3rd part will soon be hankering to be the 3rd party gubernatorial candidate, and then senatorial ...
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You are correct that no person/persons would be able to control the party in that way but the larger idea is to create a third party that can successfully achieve its goal even if corrupted, which would inevitably happen (see Tea Party). A virtuous ideal third party will never last long but the main problem I see with American politics is the partisanship. This prevents both parties from addressing non-partisian issues or working together. If a third party can simply force some issues into the forefront, with some party members causing a ruckus in the House and the backing of a decently sized bloc of voters, it could easily move the Republican and Democratic politicians back towards the center. This could happen no matter the amount of money goes into the third party.
I see this third party idea as more of a threat to Republicans and Democrats to get their act together, not a permanent alternative. I'm assuming this third party would eventually get adsorbed into the original two, but that process would most likely achieve the goal of weakening the partisanship in Washington since it forces both parties to react and adapt.