Coffee Party aims to turn heat down on civic discourses

LONGVIEW, Wash. - A new political group wants everyone to just sit down, sip coffee, and discuss politics civilly instead of in the heated partisan bickering way seen in Washington, D.C. and across the country.

They call themselves The Coffee Party and organizers say they’re different from the Tea Party, which is a movement among some groups that call for politicians to return to traditional conservative values. Organizers of the Coffee Party say they just want everyone to express competing opinions over a cup of coffee at local coffee houses like Starbucks.

The Coffee Party is a national movement that’s growing across the country and two Lower Columbia College students, Richard Dominiak and Jared Mitchell, are organizing it in the Longview-Kelso area.
 
They say the goal behind the parties is to end gridlock in government and say they think meeting at coffee shops could help take the steam out of political discussions. While both Dominiak and Mitchell admit they tend to lean more to the left on the political spectrum, they say that’s the type of thinking that should be left at the door of whatever coffee house the group meets in.

“There’s been a lot of animosity between the people,” Dominiak said. “There’s been liberals against conservatives, and it shouldn’t be that way. We’re one country and we should be working together.”

“There’s too much of a partisan divide,” said Mitchell. “Too much whining, complaining about really stupid things. It’s all just stupid politics.”

The group had nine people from a wide range of ages and walks of life meet on Monday at a Starbucks, which was a sharp increase from no one showing up at a meeting earlier in the month.

While organizers say they want to include many voices, many say they worry the groups could be just the more liberal version to the Tea Party.

“Unfortunately, it’s really one party that’s here,” said Ernie Cadman, one Coffee Party attendee. “I mean, it’s a party I support and agree with most, but I would have liked to have had a mix of people.”