First a Tea Party, Now a Coffee Party! I recently read a great post on this subject by Joseph Lazzaro. Here is his post in its entirety.
"You knew it had to happen, eventually. In response to the Tea Party, a largely conservative/libertarian political action faction that advocates free markets, and small government (except defense spending), a liberal/populist Coffee Party political action faction has formed.
The Coffee Party's underlying principle is that 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." The first National Coffee Party Day was held last Saturday, March 13.
Although the two have diametrically opposed views of government, especially the role of the federal government in U.S. society and the economy, both share a disappointment with the current leadership in Washington.
The Coffee Party has also made civility a core value. It encourages members to sign its Civility Pledge.
Political/Economic Analysis: The Coffee Party faction is a logical response to the Tea Party faction, which has managed to receive broadcast air time far beyond what its membership would dictate, largely due to disproportionate coverage of the faction by News Corp.'s (NWS) Fox News.
Unless either organization can consistently secure a critical mass of the electorate -- roughly 20% of registered voters -- you'd have to put each in the category of a faction, with each eventually being assimilated by its logical home party: the Republican Party (for Tea faction) and the Democratic Party (for the Coffee faction). And it's highly unlikely that Tea and Coffee factions will merge to form a viable third party.
For attainment of power reasons, political parties in the United States require voters to aggregate interests and make broad choices: parties have to be "umbrella organizations," or there's little hope of competing effectively for the ultimate national office, the U.S. presidency. So far, both the Tea and Coffee factions appear to be structured on economic issues only, and as long as they are narrowly structured, they'll remain much weaker than the established, umbrella Democratic and Republican parties."
Melinda's response: I love coffee and I love tea. Perhaps opposites attract?!
