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The Coffee Party USA is a political movement that developed as an alternative to the Tea Party movement. There are several groups claiming this name. The first references came weeks before the first web pages and Facebook groups. Disgusted by the social conservatives glomming onto the Tea Party, the Campaign for Liberty was holding coffee parties in order to properly meet without any of the stigma that the social conservatives were causing to the Tea Party. Another groups 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". Its stated goals include getting cooperation in government and removing corporate influence from politics.

National Coffee Party Day was Saturday, March 13, 2010.

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 most public version of the Coffee Party USA was established in January, 2010 on the Facebook social networking site. It was founded by documentary filmmakers and Democrat political activists Annabel Park and Eric Byler. After becoming increasingly frustrated with the incivility and obstructionism in political discourse, and the media narrative that the Tea Party represented America, 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 155,000 in size from word of mouth and social networking in under six weeks. Comparing the Coffee Party with the Tea Party, Park noted,

"A key difference is in our emphasis on the democratic process, on respectful and civil engagement with one another and with our elected officials. In the current climate, too many Americans are afraid to participate, and find the process itself too alienating, because it is dominated by people with extreme opinions and extreme tactics. It's hard to speak up when others in the room are screaming. So in the end, we may want some of the same things, but we our hoping our journey getting there will be very different."

After collecting input from the first round of national gatherings, the Coffee Party has outlined three initial steps to promote participatory democracy. "The first step is creating a public space for open and civil dialogue. The second step is collective deliberation, considering facts and values to arrive at a decision. The third step is working toward implementing the decision."

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 first six weeks. Bloggers and reporters comparing Facebook statistics noted the Coffee Party USA page has overtaken the DNC's Organizing for America and the one-year-old Tea Party fan pages in membership.

Events

The Coffee Party held their initial national coffee house day event on March 13, 2010. Some 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."

Media coverage

A spokesperson for Coffee Party USA, Alan Alborn, gave two interviews for KSRO Newstalk 1350 radio in Santa Rosa, California.

The Coffee Party movement has been covered by CNN, Fox News Channel, the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Seattle Times, CBS , the BBC, and have been televised on C-SPAN.

References

1. "Campaign for Liberty".
2. "Coffee Party, With a Taste for Civic Participation, Is Added to the Political Menu". New York Times. Mar 3, 2010.
3. "Saturday, March 13th is National Coffee Party Day".
4. "Coffee Party movement: Alternative to tea". Washington Post. Feb 26, 2010.
5. 9500 Liberty The Filmmakers
6. "Coffee Party activists say their civic brew's a tastier choice than Tea Party's". Washington Post. Feb 25, 2010.
7. Coffee Party movement: Alternative to Tea Washington Post; February 26, 2010
8. http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/03/12/coffee.party.people/index.html
9. Why I Started Coffee Party USA CNN; March 18, 2010
10. Coffee vs Tea: A political movement is brewing CNN
11. http://politicalcartel.org/2010/03/09/coffee-party-v-tea-party-facebook-turf-war/
12. Washington Post
13. "Coffee Party movement: Alternative to tea". Washington Post. Feb 26, 2010.
14. http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2010/0313/Coffee-party-movement-Not-far-from-the-tea-party-message
15. KSRO News Talk Radio Interview with Coffee Party spokesman
16. "Coffee Party Spokesman Al Alborn ROCKS THE HOUSE in two radio interviews".
17. CNN
18. Coffee Party Aims for Civil Discourse Fox News Channel
19. Tea Party Movement has competition: COFFEE PARTY (March 13!)
20. New York Times
21. Washington Post,
22. Seattle Times
23. CBS News
25. Civic Engagement and the Political Process C-SPAN Video Library
26. Open Phones C-SPAN Video Library

External links

• Official Coffee Party Website.
• Original Coffee Party Facebook group
• Campaign for Liberty

• Political movements in the United States
• 2010 in American politics