A lobbying firm says so. A lobbying firm offering advice to Wall Street clients, says this:
"Leading Democratic party strategists have begun to openly discuss the benefits of embracing the growing and increasingly organized Occupy Wall Street (OWS) movement to prevent Republican gains in Congress and the White House next year. We have seen this process of adopting extreme positions and movements to increase base voter turnout, including in the 2005-2006 immigration debate. This would mean more than just short-term discomfort for Wall Street firms. If vilifying the leading companies of this sector is allowed to become an unchallenged centerpiece of a coordinated Democratic campaign, it has the potential to have very long-lasting political, policy and financial impacts on the companies in the center of the bullseye.
"It shouldn't be surprising that the Democratic party or even President Obama's re-election team would campaign against Wall Street in this cycle. However the bigger concern should be that Republicans will no longer defend Wall Street companies -- and might start running against them too."
If this isn't proof that Occupy Wall Street is effective, I don't know what would be. Of course, this is merely a warning to Wall Street firms. But it foretells a powerful attack against the 1% - an atack that "has the potential to have very long-lasting political, policy and financial impacts on the companies in the center of the bullseye." You bet!
When they say, however, that "the bigger concern should be that Republicans will no longer defend Wall Street companies," they are decidedly wrong. There is no circumstance under which Republicans will not defend Wall Street. They have spent the last 3 years doing nothing but fighting for Wall Street. Today's entire purpose of the Republican Party is to work for the interests of those who got them elected: Wall Street. Republicans are not conservative, as they claim; they work for the 1%.
One political impact we may expect from the engagement of the 99%, one I look forward to with enthusiasm, is the re-election of President Barack Obama to a second term. More than anything else happening today, the Occupy Wall Street movement will open up the public's eye to the devastation caused by the 1% and its associated Republicans and reelect Obama president.
