<\/a>Barely a month old, the Coffee Party<\/a> convened over 400 local gatherings at coffee houses yesterday. \u00a0While the political philosophy of the Coffee Party is evolving on a day-by-day basis, a constant principle seems to be a commitment towards a civil political dialogue.\u00a0 This in itself separates the party from Tea Baggers.<\/p>\n

If the Coffee Party does nothing more than offer a forum for political dialogue where different points of view can be heard, where reflection occurs, where one can enter a room without fear that a member of the party is carrying a pistol, where hate is not expressed towards various groups among us, then it has moved us miles ahead.<\/p>\n

It seems evident that a majority of the current members of the Coffee Party share values that are consistent with the current progressive movement.\u00a0 The Coffee Party can have a much-needed mollifying effect on many in the Democratic Party.\u00a0 Democrats need not back away from their principles to embrace the civil demeanor of the Coffee Party.\u00a0 They just need to for some members of the party to work on toning it down.<\/p>\n

If Republicans and Democrats were to \u201cduke it out\u201d through a shouting match, Democrats could hold their own.\u00a0 Chuck Schumer, Patrick Kennedy, John Kerry, Christopher Dodd and\u00a0Joe Biden would form a great starting quintet.<\/p>\n

The Coffee Party wants to help us listen instead of shout.\u00a0 Verbal assaults are a form of violence, and progressives generally oppose violence.\u00a0 To Democrats, please don\u2019t take the Coffee Party for granted and look at it as just another constituency.\u00a0 Civility is consistent with a progressive agenda.\u00a0 Let\u2019s all work at further advancing it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While the political philosophy of the Coffee Party is evolving on a day-by day basis, a constant principle seems to be a commitment towards a civil political dialogue. This in itself separates the party from Tea Baggers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[128,16],"tags":[836,219,603,221],"yoast_head":"\n