[Protagoras]

To exercise political power you must gain political office

I disagree with this assessment. The Socialist Party of the thirties was one of the most sucessful parties of all time, and they never elected anyone of consequence. They saw almost all of their (terrible) agenda enacted.

[pghliberty]

which ties in directly to my point about change being cultural vs. political. BTW, I've posted some info about me on my freep ID page.

[rebelsoldier]

They were only successful under the umbrella of the Democrat Party, not on their own. Fringe political movements invade major parties and become part of them changing their direction and altering them as was done with the Democrat Party, Republican Party, and yes even the Libertarian Party.