PrintMarch 16, 2010
The coffee party 'success'
After two weeks of constant media publicity, the “big” March 13th Coffee Party finally arrived. Thanks to the ardent efforts of the Washington Post, NY Times, and CNN, I am sure that you have heard of the group. The national publicity sprouted a tiny facebook group into a somewhat less than small facebook group. No doubt, the Coffee Party owes the MSM a great debt of gratitude for their touted 350 Coffee Parties last Saturday. The real question is, was the event a success or failure; It depends on how you define success.
If you were to define success by evaluating the Coffee Party by their stated goal, creating a grassroots movement that rivals the Tea Party, then the event was an abysmal failure. The fact that the group is heralding the number of venues as opposed to the number of participants is an indication that the movement is in full fledged damage control. I reviewed the turnout of some of the Coffee Party USA’s largest reported chapters and found the numbers to be anemically small. Atlanta boasts 164 members and 5 showed up, Boston has 145, but 13 made an appearance, and one of the largest groups, Chicago with 181, in turn had one of the largest turnouts, 28.
If you were to give the Coffee Party a generous showing of 15 members for each of the 350 coffee parties that occurred, you would have 5,250 in attendance, nationally. Jim Hoft at Gateway Pundit compares the national Coffee Party movement to a single Tea Party event in St. Charles Missouri where 2,225 turned out on short notice for a “Kill the Bill” rally and only 600 were expected. When comparing the two movements there is no disputing that the Tea Party has far greater numbers and far more energy than the Coffee Party and March 13th proved it.
Of course, the Coffee Party’s actual goal is not the same as their stated goal. The purpose of any Astroturf organization is to create in media perception what is lacking in actual substance. It isn’t about creating an actual count of members as energetic and numerous as the Tea Party, but to make people think that the Coffee Party is the Tea Party’s rival. By this measure, the group has been largely successful. I’ve already mentioned the Coffee Party’s favorable coverage in the large media outlets, but local coverage prior to the event was also as extensive and as adoring. Here is the Charlotte Observer, coverage in Dallas, and publicity in the Seattle Times. A google search of the news reveals a massive outpouring of local media. It makes the Coffee Party’s failure more epic, but their success more infamous.
Now that the signs have been waved in coffee houses across America, expect the favorable media coverage to continue. Mission accomplished for the tiny Coffee Party. It is likely that there are at least a few in the house and senate that now believe that by voting for health care, they are going to have a massive showing of Coffee to thwart Tea come November. The lesson we walk away with? Don’t underestimate the effectiveness of the left to accomplish with smoke and mirrors what the right must accomplish with bricks and mortar.
S. Fowler is a contributor for Left Coast Rebel and can be emailed at livingstonconservative@gmail.com
