Today, over half of Americans fear the Nation is headed in the wrong direction.

Only about ten percent actually approve of Congress!

Is it surprising that the Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street, have risen as major movements?

Despite massive numbers of people forming and joining OWS and the Tea Parties, and their wide popularity, the Establishment has ignored them. It has pretended that the grassroots was but an irritant. Insulated by massive money contributions from corporations and unions, the Establishment could afford to do so– until now.

But despite rivers of money, even Establishment candidates cannot simply bludgeon the electorate.

They still need support from citizens to win elections. Mitt Romney for example, the candidate of large monied interests, has faced great difficulty gaining grassroots support, which has typically favored less financially connected candidates, like Rick Santorum and Ron Paul. Significant support of alternate candidates increasingly represents a challenge to the Establishment. For decades, support by large donors equated to political power. Today however, the electorate on both sides of the aisle is awakening to, and sickened by, the old system of rule by the connected few.

Since it can no longer ignore such modern movements, the Establishment is trying to co-opt them, by using its financial power and two-party organizational strength, to deploy false institutions that claim to speak for the movements. This has already occurred within the Tea Party, even prompting co-founder of the Tea Party Patriots’ Mark Meckler to resign in February.

The same ‘take over at the top’ undercurrent is occurring in the infrastructure of Occupy Wall Street. Elites who presided over the Bush and Obama administrations, now work to divide and drain current grassroots activism.

The co-opting of real voter choices, can be ended. The two-party system has overridden the grassroots for too long.

Americans deserve a clean election system. Growing voices from true movements such as the Tea Party, OWS, and others that are rising, will rapidly erode the pre-decided Establishment elections.

Yours in Freedom,

Christina Tobin

NOTE: Free and Equal Elections Foundation will hold a Chicago event this Summer, to unite electoral reform leaders from across the political spectrum.