Grounds for Independence: Coffee Party Goes National

I have not written on the Coffee Party because, frankly, I had not really looked into the group at all. However, Liberal Arts Dude of An Ordinary Person – who is a fellow contributor to Third Party and Independent Daily and whom you might run into in the comments section here at Poli-Tea – was intrigued by the organization and filed a post on it in late February entitled: "The Coffee Party: the Anti-Tea Party." Since then, LAD has become more formally involved with the group and now maintains a blog on the Coffee Party site, entitled Indy Coffee Party Dude. In his first post there, "A Coffee Party Independent," he makes the case that independents should become involved with the movement:

I am a political independent. That means I am neither Republican or Democrat. I've voted for and supported third party and independent candidates before and I will do so again. I am a proud Coffee Party member and feel it is important for independents to participate in this movement for several reasons:

1) This is an opportunity for independents to get in on the ground floor of a social movement that is exploding with creativity, energy, popularity and is gaining hundreds of new members every day . . .

2) The common lament among independents is being marginalized. This is true as candidates . . . And this is true as voters . . . The Coffee Party has the potential to allow independents to play a major role and have their voices be heard in the political process . . .

3) I say "the potential" in the last sentence because unless independents actually are out there participating in the public discourse and in the political process, they will remain marginalized . . .

This last point is especially important because it essentially holds across the board. So long as independents, third party advocates and critics of the Democratic-Republican two-party state remain disengaged from the political process, they will continue to be marginalized by that process. If you are interested in finding out more about the Coffee Party, the organization is holding meet-up style events across the country tomorrow, which is their "National Kick-Off Day." This could also be a good outreach and organizing opportunity for third party and independent activists.