Just because the Coffee Party was a fraudulent “Me too!” effort to counter the Tea Party, and it’s all but forgotten a mere year later — even after a concerted media effort to convince you that yuh-huh, you are too interested in it — that doesn’t mean Ben Smith at Politico is done talking about it:
Schism brews in Coffee Party
The Coffee Party, which launched last year to mild public curiosity in reaction to the Tea Party wave, has receded from public view — in part because of a schism between its centrist leadership and some left-leaning grassroots.
The movement, co-founded by filmmaker named Annabel Park, was initially seen as a progressive alternative to the Tea Party.
As Newsweek reported of an early meeting, members “were angry. They hated the Tea Party, and the Republican Party. They wanted to get even.”
Park, however, says she intended the group to be centrist and non-partisan. She at one point weighed legal action to prevent the left-leaning faction from using their copyrighted logo after Darrell Bouldin, a Tennessee-based activist, started an offshoot called “Coffee Party Progressives.”
Drama! That was on Thursday. Smith followed up on Saturday:
We reported on Thursday of a schism between the progressive wing of the Coffee Party and its leadership. Launched with high hopes last year and seen by some as a progressive answer to Tea Party, the party has instead been an example of the failure to counter the power and energy of the tea party movement — and its own board members are portraying it as an organizational disaster.
This week, the organization also announced the dissolution of the interim board this week, and three board members lashed out against the two cofounders in response.
“We are writing to you because it is our belief that much can be learned from the experience of the Interim Board, and the dynamics on the Board which we believe seriously impeded our process. We would like to identify some issues which, from our point of view, have become problems within the Coffee Party, and which, if not corrected, will hinder its success,” wrote ousted board members Bahiya Cabral-Johnson, Teri Torres-Hart and Sabina Virgo in an open letter.
Painting a general picture of organizational chaos, they pointed to a lack of civility in the organization, a lack of democracy and a lack of consultation.
Not to mention a lack of interest among the general public.
Some things never change… (WARNING: Naugty language)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gb_qHP7VaZEBut don’t get too smug, you wingnuts. The Coffee Party might’ve failed miserably, but F*ck Tea is really going to capture the popular imagination any minute now. Yep. [Taps foot, checks watch] Aaaaaany second now. You’ll see, teabaggers. You’ll see…
P.S. And how about US Uncut? Pre-made signs: Check. Marxist rhetoric: Check. Pathetic turnout: Check. Just another failed astroturf campaign.