In a recent interview with City Weekly, Rocky Anderson spoke about leaving the Democratic Party, his reasons for doing so and his plans for the future. His responses showed a passion for grass-roots movements and an interest in forming a new political party --- that would not “ignore the interests of the poor and middle class while serving solely the interests of the corporations upon whom [the Republicans and Democrats] rely for campaign contributions.”

It seems he picked an ideal time to harbor these sentiments. With the Occupy Wall Street movement expanding to cities across the world, it is clear that there are many who are disillusioned with our current political structure and long for a party or politician who looks out for “the 99 percent.” Anderson showed his support of the movement at the Occupy SLC press conference on Oct. 14. He spoke to the press, stating that he “totally supports this movement” and that he has “been asking for people to get out in the streets for years.” He told them that “those in the two major political parties ... are now the enemies.”

Anderson is using the energy of Occupy Wall Street and the disillusionment of many Americans to move forward with the formation of a new political party. He claims that this new party would focus on “affordable universal health care, an end to the wars, a significant reduction in the military budget, an end to the military-industrial-congressional complex, investigation of illegal conduct by executive officials during the current and prior administrations, investigation of the events on 9/11 to answer significant questions that have been raised, prosecution for illegal conduct leading to the economic meltdown, disincentives for U.S. companies to send jobs overseas, employee and environmental safeguards in trade agreements, implementation of major domestic jobs and infrastructure programs, an end to the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy, campaign-finance reform to end the corrupting influence of money in politics, treating substance abuse within a public-health framework rather than as a criminal matter, repeal the PATRIOT Act, compassionate and rational immigration reform, marriage equality, an end to subsidies for oil and gas companies, a ban on a Canada-to-Mexico tar-sands pipeline, air-quality protection—including stricter ozone limits—and aggressive action and leadership on the climate crisis and the environment.”

Anderson plans to have candidates of the new party running in local, state and federal races throughout the country in the near future. He will host a meeting between leading politicians and activists in order to “draft a new platform and a long-term strategy capable of attracting a majority of voters.”

Revolution is in the air, and the timing may be just right for Anderson to make his dream a reality.