Tea Party Express Rolls Into Nashua

Ellen and Bob Prescott are what you might call Tea Party roadies. The couple, of Jacksonville, Fla., are on their fifth tour with the Tea Party Express.

"We're heading to Portland, Maine, after this," said Ellen Prescott, sorting through the canisters of campaign buttons stowed in the trunk of her car. She and her husband sell the buttons at Tea Party events to pay for gas money, and to help support the cause.

Back home they collect scrap metal to supplement their Social Security checks.

But while on the road with the Tea Party Express, they not only live out of their car, they use it as their oven on wheels.

"We have some mac-and-cheese strapped onto the engine right now, along with some burritos. By the time we get to Portland, they'll be piping hot," said Bob Prescott, wheeling his button display board through the Holiday Inn parking lot in anticipation of the Tea Party Express bus tour, which made its final New Hampshire stop in Nashua Sept. 5 just after 5 p.m.

Annette Cameron of Nashua arrived early with her 2-year-old granddaughter, Aryanna, in tow. They have been attending Tea Party events whenever they get the chance.

"Can you believe it? She was waving her flags at the Manchester stop today, yelling 'No-bama, No-bama," said Cameron, with grandmotherly pride.

Cameron is like many others who attend the Tea Party rallies -- still searching for something better than the current administration, but unsure of which conservative alternative has what it takes to beat President Obama in 2012.

"Right now I'm leaning toward Herman Cain," said Cameron. "Palin is too much in your face. And Romney -- he's brilliant, but he doesn't scream and yell and get all excited, and that's what I like."

Kathryn Peterson of Nashua was sporting her Ron Paul campaign button, prepared to discusss her candidate's dedication to the values of the Tea Party movement, long before everyone else got close enough to jump on the bandwagon.

"We definitely need America to get back to its roots and Constitutional values. I feel Ron Paul is the best candidate for these American values, whether he stays on the Republican ballot or moves over to the Libertarian ballot again," Peterson said. "And we need to bring our boys home from the war; we shouldn't have to be policemen for the whole world."

Although an estimated 2,000 supporters showed up for the earlier Tea Party bus stop in Manchester -- fueled no doubt by an appearance by undeclared Presidential darling Sarah Palin -- the Nashua event was comparitively subdued. There were about 100 people, including vendors and volunteers, gathered in a function room inside the Holiday Inn by the time the buses rolled up at about 5:30 p.m.

Chuck and Di Lothrop of Nashua were among them, both decked out in patriotic outfits, and both still considering their options for a candidate of choice.

"He likes Sarah Palin," said Di Lothrop. "I had been looking at Michele Bachmann, but I'm really not sure."

Several people were crowded around the Ron Paul table, discussing the pros and cons of his candidacy, including Paul Best, a New Hampshire native, and Kallen Diggs, a Freestater, who said he came to New Hampshire in search of more liberty in his lifetime.

Both said they believe Paul's consistency on the issues makes him the best man for the job.

"I also think Ron Paul is the only candidate who really is for ending the war," Best said.

"I like how Ron Paul is for small government," said Diggs. "I'm for keeping government out of people's business."

One of the first candidates to address the crowd was former Louisiana Governor Buddy Roemer, who took some swipes at the competition while reinforcing his own strengths as a candidate.

He owned up to his past, as a former Democrat turned Republican, who sells himself today as free from the bondage of partisan politics because of his unique bi-party background.

"I had been governor, and I had been a congressman four times. In four years we took the unemployment rate from 12.8 percent to 6.  We created jobs; we reduced the size of government -- that's what I did," Roemer said.

"I'm free -- I'm not running for the glory, or for reelection. I've been out of politics for 20 years. I'm here because it's time for action," Roemer said.

Also taking advantage of the hometown crowd was candidate Christopher V. Hill of Bedford, who said he announced his candidacy three weeks ago.

He said he is a veteran of the Gulf War and now works as an airline captain for UPS. He decided to make a go of a presidential run after detecting a local groundswell of support for an authentic candidate.

"I've established a group of Facebook, Pilots and Patriots, and we're defending the Constitution," said Hill. "I'm running because I didn't see a strong candidate out there, and I felt there was a lot of support for me here in New Hampshire -- support that's growing."