Coffee Party USA
File:CoffeeParty.jpg | |
Formation | January, 2010 |
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Region served | United States |
Website | CoffeePartyUSA.com |
The Coffee Party USA is a political movement that developed as an alternative to the Tea Party movement. Its mission states that it is based on the underlying principle that the government is "not the enemy of the people, but the expression of our collective will, and that we must participate in the democratic process in order to address the challenges we face as Americans." Its slogan is "Wake Up and Stand Up".[1] Its stated goals include getting cooperation in government and removing corporate influence from politics.
National Coffee Party Day was Saturday, March 13, 2010.[2]
Origin
let's start a coffee party . . . smoothie party. red bull party. anything but tea. geez. ooh how about cappuccino party? that would really piss 'em off bec it sounds elitist . . . let's get together and drink cappuccino and have real political dialogue with substance and compassion.
— Annabel Park, Facebook page posting
The Coffee Party USA was established in January, 2010. It was founded by documentary filmmakers and political activists Annabel Park and Eric Byler.[3][4][5] After becoming increasingly frustrated with the incivility and obstructionism in general political discourse within Congress and the Tea Party, Park vented her anger on her Facebook page. Numerous positive responses from friends prompted her to start a "Join the Coffee Party Movement" fan page. The group rapidly grew to over 110,000 in size from word of mouth in under six weeks.[6]
Facebook membership
The Coffee Party had surpassed 9,200 fans on its Facebook page in the first few weeks, and over 141,000 fans during its initial six weeks.[7]
Events
The Coffee Party held their initial national coffee house day event on March 13, 2010. 370 events took place across the US and the world, including Tokyo and Jakarta, with the intent to "encourage our existing and soon-to-form chapters to facilitate informative and civil dialogue about issues that affect all of us, collectively. We will ask them to report back to us on what consensus they reach, and take action from there."[8][9] A second set of gatherings, the National Coffee Summit, is scheduled for March 27 & 28, 2010.[citation needed]
Media coverage
A spokesperson for Coffee Party USA, Alan Alborn, gave two interviews for KSRO Newstalk 1350 radio in Santa Rosa, California.[10][11]
The Coffee Party movement has been covered by CNN, [12] the New York Times,[13] the Washington Post,[14] the Seattle Times[15], CBS, [16] and the BBC [17].
The Christian Science Monitor has described the Coffee Party as "[a] liberal-esque and pro-Obama answer to the conservative tea party movement," and described participants as "visibly more diverse than the average tea party gathering," and "the people who gathered here were not nearly as hard-charging as the tea party crowds".[18]
Criticism
Various blogs have challenged the Coffee Party's claim that it is "100% grassroots." Some have noted that it has received contributions from the progressive Democracy in Action, which is in part funded by George Soros.[19][20]Others have noted that Coffee Party events have been organized or attended by known Democratic Party Operatives. For example, Chicago Democratic operative Baxter Swilley organized an event in Rogers Park, and prepared a cookie-cutter press release which was used at both at Rogers Parks event and a Kansas City event. Additionally, Democratic National Committee Member Marcia Halpern participated in a West Palm Beach event.[21][22][23]
See also
References
- ^ "Coffee Party, With a Taste for Civic Participation, Is Added to the Political Menu". nytimes.com. Mar 3, 2010.
- ^ "Saturday, March 13th is National Coffee Party Day".
- ^ "Coffee Party movement: Alternative to tea". washingtonpost.com. Feb 26, 2010.
- ^ 9500 Liberty The Filmmakers
- ^ "Coffee Party activists say their civic brew's a tastier choice than Tea Party's". washingtonpost.com. Feb 25, 2010.
- ^ http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/03/12/coffee.party.people/index.html
- ^ Coffee vs Tea: A political movement is brewing CNN
- ^ "Coffee Party movement: Alternative to Tea". washingtonpost.com. Feb 26, 2010.
- ^ http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2010/0313/Coffee-party-movement-Not-far-from-the-tea-party-message
- ^ KSRO News Talk Radio Interview with Coffee Party spokesman
- ^ "Coffee Party Spokesman Al Alborn ROCKS THE HOUSE in two radio interviews".
- ^ CNN
- ^ New York Times
- ^ Washington Post,
- ^ Seattle Times
- ^ CBS News
- ^ [1]
- ^ http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2010/0313/Coffee-party-movement-Not-far-from-the-tea-party-message
- ^ http://logisticsmonster.com/2010/03/13/george-soros-behind-the-coffee-party
- ^ http://www.leftcoastrebel.com/2010/03/wake-up-call-for-coffee-party-cons.html
- ^ http://www.nhteapartycoalition.org/tea/2010/03/14/coffee-party-is-more-soros-funded-progressive-astroturf
- ^ http://macsmind.com/wordpress/2010/03/14/palm-beach-coffee-party-a-bust-attended-by-democratic-ops
- ^ http://patterico.com/2010/03/14/coffee-party-reports