From CNN…

The new Coffee Party movement deemed its official kickoff Saturday a “huge success,” with dozens of talks held at coast-to-coast coffee shops as members came together to discuss the issues most important to them.

…At Java Monkey in Decatur, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta, coordinator Stacey Hopkins said turnout far exceeded expectations, with around 60 people participating at the “very productive” meeting where health care reform was the overriding issue.

“We had kids there, we had college students, high school students, and we had retirees,” she said. “It went across a very broad spectrum age wise and racially, and this is that we’d like to see.”

And while many will immediately assume that this is a more highly caffeinated, liberal reaction to the grassroots Tea Party Movement, the movement’s online home states that “Coffee Party USA aims to reinvigorate the public sphere, drawing from diverse backgrounds and diverse perspectives, with the goal of expanding the influence of the People in America’s political arena.”

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