Secrets of the City

The Coffee Party is not just an opposition party to the Tea Party, argue its local supporters. It’s a reaction to the environment. “Most people are too busy to have a political conversation,” says Tom Horner of St. Cloud, “and these meetings are opportunities for people to hang out and have a serious, civil conversation about current events.”

Annabel Park was angry at [the Tea Party's] approach of “us against the government,” and she proposed an alternative: “Let’s get together and drink cappuccino and have real political dialogue with substance and compassion,” she wrote on her Facebook page in January. Park has actively encouraged citizen cooperation before, and highlighted an example of countering divisive rhetoric in her film “9500 Liberty.”

The Coffee Party’s Facebook page now has almost 100,000 fans, and their website has a list of chapters that includes a Minnesota chapter, which kicked off in St. Cloud on February 28th, with 77 members. Their next meetings are on March 13th.

[Bethel college grad student Bill] Mech is also quick to add that the Coffee Party is not trying to align itself with any political party. “I think that we are wary of what appears to be happening with the Tea Party, that the Republican Party is trying to corral it,” he said. “We would like to keep this open to multiple political view points and not be agenda-driven, but dialog driven.”

Wonkette highlights a story first heard on MPR ["Pawlenty buys some Alabama goodwill, but who paid for it?"]

Wonkette ledes their story: Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, the 2012 candidate everyone’s heard about and immediately forgotten, holds a very special position for the Republican party: he runs around the country giving speeches that no one cares about BUT ONLY TO DISGUISE his true purpose, which is cash.  He distributes unmarked bills and checks to people. Powerful people. Real quiet, see?

MPR is, of course, less snarky:

“On the same weekend that Sarah Palin was collecting a $100,000 appearance fee from the Tea Party Convention, Gov. Tim Pawlenty was the courier for a $100,000 check to the Alabama Republican Party.

“On Friday, Pawlenty gave a 25 minute speech to Republican activists in Montgomery, AL. Before Pawlenty spoke to the group, Alabama GOP Chair Mike Hubbard announced that Pawlenty showed up at the speech bearing gifts. Hubbard told the audience of about 700 GOP
activists that Pawlenty hand-delivered a $100,000 check from an unnamed donor.”

Today is the big day. (Or is it?) In an effort to thwart Democratic leaders’ efforts to lock down votes for the health care reform bill, Minnesota Representative Michele Bachmann will be rallying her troops on the steps of the Capitol (Washington) at noon.

In appealing to demonstrators, Ms. Bachmann called the health care vote, tentatively scheduled for this Saturday, the “Super Bowl of freedom.” She has repeatedly accused Democrats of pursuing “socialized medicine” and a “government takeover” of the health care system.

Does this large-scale media moment have anything to do with the recent resignation of Bachmann’s top aide, Michelle Marston? Bachmann’s Mad Hatter reputation may be scaring away staffers.

What kind of support will Bachmann garner today? On Wednesday, Fox News estimated a crowd of 64,000 — but then this is the same Fox News that substantially overestimated (by almost a million) the 9/12 tea party crowd, and the same Fox News that reduced the 1900-page bill to “five pages that matter.” (Still, a quick Internet search shows a fair number of people — primarily East Coast — looking for a ride.)

One person we know will be there for sure is actor Jon Voight, who just left Minnesota last night, after speaking at a fundraiser for Gov. Pawlenty.

Meanwhile, the Stand Up America PAC, an anti-right-wing-extremist organization, has spent the last two days trying to raise $10,000 in order to “ruin Michele Bachmann’s day” by proving they can rally just as much support against her as she can rally against the health care legislation. A noble (or at least peaceful) counter-attack? Or a cheap way of raising much needed funds (that will in no way benefit health care reform)?