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I can now say that I have been able to attend both a Tea Party & a Coffee Party gathering as a purely curious non-partisan moderate citizen.
Unbelievable! When you listen to these two groups & compare then, its like they live in two separate countries. When you closely listen & observe them, you can pretty much conclude that politicial UNITY in america will NEVER happen in our lifetime. ( The 9/11 unity moment will probably never be seen again in our lifetime.
I have no intention of taking sides. ( at least not publicly- lol )
So here are my brief, neutral, safe observations.
Demographics: Both TEA & COFFEE activists are overwhelmingly White.
The Tea Party rally I attended was I'd say 99% White
The Coffee Party get together was I'd say 80% White, 10% Asian, and 10% mix of Black & Hispanic.
There were a lot more shouting, cheering, & screaming in the TEA P while speaker after speaker lambasted Obama & the Democrats.
The COFFEE crowd seemed more like a cheering combined with serious discussion on issues.
TEA P - How can we change this Gov't & give power to the people
COFFEE P - What can we do to use power of Gov't to help improve lives of its citizens
TEA P - majority believe that Pres. Obama was NOT born here & something was done to alter the facts
COFFEE P - They believe that Conservative Talk Radio & politcians like Palin are destroying the image of the Presidency by continually " Fabricating Out of this world" stories about Obama. Virtually everybody believes that if the President was White, there would never ever be a discussion of the President's citizenship or he being american.
In conclusion, I'd say about 70% of TEA P attendees were high school educated blue collar working class while the 30% were upper middle class to wealthy. 99% republican or republican leaning voters.
The COFFEE P had it the other way. About 30% of the attendees were Blue collar, while about 70% were College grad upper middle to wealthy.
99% democrat or democratic leaning voters.
The TEA P has a head start in terms of national organization & structure. They are determined to bring glory to GOP in November.
The COFFEE P is trying rapidly to catch up in the National networking org. & get ready for Nov. 2010
Most predict that if democrats do badly in 2010, we will witness a very energized, huge COFFEE P for 2012 ( a similar coalition that got Obama in office)
It is not the tea party against the ? coffee party?.......
Tea party is a misleading designation as it is not a party in the traditional sense but a 'call to arms' of like minded individuals who have given notice that hope is in the bag and change is about to take place in the halls of government.
Your perception is valid for you. The coffee party??????
Did the OP say something about seeing political unity in our lifetime? lol, America has never seen anything remotely resembling political unity at any point in our history outside of a threat from an external power. At those moments we are generally able to put politics aside and do what needs to be done.
If you want a quick lesson on political unity in America, read what was written about Jefferson and Adams during their Presidential race. The crap commercials that get spawned on TV these days have nothing on these guys.
Here is a quick blurb:
Quote:
Jefferson’s camp accused President Adams of having a “hideous hermaphroditical character, which has neither the force and firmness of a man, nor the gentleness and sensibility of a woman.” In return, Adams’ men called Vice President Jefferson “a mean-spirited, low-lived fellow, the son of a half-breed Indian squaw, sired by a Virginia mulatto father.” As the slurs piled on, Adams was labeled a fool, a hypocrite, a criminal, and a tyrant, while Jefferson was branded a weakling, an atheist, a libertine, and a coward. Even Martha Washington succumbed to the propaganda, telling a clergyman that Jefferson was “one of the most detestable of mankind.”
There is no escaping it as it has always been and always will be. Bi-partisanship only exists when special interests transcend party loyalty. The 10% on the extreme of either side bark the loudest, another 20% on either side blindly vote for their party. It's the 40% in the middle that shade one way or the other that swing elections. Getting these people to vote is the key to winning. The problem is since they are in the middle you need to find what pushes their buttons to get them to swing to your favor. Bush won the lion's share of this group in 2004, Obama won it in 2008, what happens from here is anyone's guess.
The Coffee Party is the College Educated version of the Tea party.
Other than that, same crap. The Right wing base vs. The Left wing base.
The Tea party speakers quote Rush Limbaugh & Sean Hannity all day long.
They keep repeating Gov't is evil all day long. They keep complaining about Tax Increases all day long. ( Someone forget to tell them that 90% of the attendees do not make enough money to ever be affected by any new taxes on the Rich. They keep imagining all day long that Limbaugh & Hannity are just like them. Someone forget to tell them that Limbaugh made over $ 50 million last year while Hannity came in at about $ 28 million.
Again, the only damn way someone can hood wink you all day long is if you NEVER bother going to College.
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coffee, tea or......
