"I like the civility idea, but I hate the Tea Party people"

Park, a 42-year-old Korean-American with a smile that can only be described as “kind,” regularly tried to steer the talk back to the group’s more centrist principles. But when someone asked how many people in the room were Republicans, all 80 hands remained down. “I like the civility idea, but I hate the Tea Party people,” said attendee Karen Anderson. By the end of the event, some in the crowd had decided the movement, barely two months old at the time, needed a new leader. China Dickerson, a 26-year-old community organizer, said the Coffee Party wouldn’t last “unless we get someone a little more powerful to head it.” She wanted a rabble-rouser, “not someone that says we can all work together.” Park seemed a little rattled after the meeting. “If they want to fire me, this may not be the group for them,” she said later. “We don’t want conflict and confrontation.”…

Park is trying to take it all with a sense of humor, though she admits the stress is starting to get to her. She clocks about five hours of sleep a night, and works without pay, putting airline tickets and hotels on her credit cards. “It’s a grand experiment,” she says. “Who would say no to this? It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.” She’s planning a Coffee Party convention this August, somewhere in the Midwest (people are nicer there). “We’re not going to be out there protesting,” she says. She insists there may yet come a day when the two parties—Coffee and Tea—will set aside their differences and beat their placards into plowshares. “There’s room for debate between the two platforms,” she says. Beautiful visions can be difficult to shake.