Is the Occupy movement already making an impact on elections, policy?

Yes! It has energized and educated. It has opened eyes, where people refused to look it has made them fools.

the biggest impact imo is real information. the truth and not media spin. we all have to stand up and exercise our right to be heard, all 100% of us, and we must keep the conversation civil and peaceful even in disagreement. the momentum will continue because, as Kristofferson wrote many years ago "freedom's just another word for nothin left to lose", and right now, we have nothing left to lose. for anybody who thinks we are just going to turn tail and go home when the weather turns, there is no motivation to do that. they can't take anything else from us and they can't buy us all, because IF they did that THEN we would have our country back. imo, Americans have not even begun to Occupy.

YES

It depends. If the government is successful in breaking up the protests, it will almost be worse than no protests. Future protests will be put down with violence, before they make the news, just because they know they can.

I hope if they do stop them from camping, they come back every day, or take rotation in and out for sleep and to eat.

The violence even when they are arm and arm chanting peace, is shameful. My heart and respect goes out to those who are protesting. I can't afford to camp out, but I do plan to join marches in the future. Those people are standing up for me.

The biggest impact on elections comes from your media lying to you legally. I can prove who's doing it. In 2008 Stephen Harper ( Conservative Prime Minister of Canada) had a meeting with Rupert Murdoch and Roger Ailes in an attempt to set up Fox News North. This would have been the voice of the right wing in Canada. They had a big problem to solve first. It is against the law to lie in the media in Canada. Immediately after this meeting, Harper tried to get the rules changed to allow lying in news broadcasting. He failed. The plan for Fox News North was withdrawn on the basis that the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees freedom of the press. Our regulatory board decided freedom of the press meant freedom from outside influence, not freedom to lie. Because the media can not lie in Canada, we have no American style right wing talk radio or news channels. No Rush Limbaugh, no Bill O'Reilly, no Fox News, no right wing pundits. Our media is bound by law to tell the truth. This would, by definition, put them on the left in your country. Our bound by law to tell the truth media is accused of being lefties by your right wing media all the time. Bill O'Reilly has done it many times. They're correct in this assertion. Forced honesty puts our media left of center whether they like it or not. Rupert Murdoch owns media institutions in almost every country in the western world, except Canada, where he owns nothing. Not because he didn't try, but because he could not get the rules changed. He just went away. Why would someone from the right invest in a newspaper or broadcast outlet that can not tell lies. It would be of no use to them.

Can you ignore having high blood pressure if so for how long without serious consequences?