Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney appealed to the Tea Party last night at a Concord rally where skeptics stood beside supporters.
Before Romney arrived, a group of about 20 conservative activists held a brief protest where they criticized the former governor of Massachusetts as insufficiently committed to the free-market and small-government values of the Tea Party. And while a sizeable coalition of Romney supporters stood to one side, clad in blue campaign T-shirts, the crowd of a few hundred people in Rollins Park was also populated by people like Bedford residents Don and Ann Kolifrath, both 71, who sat in lawn chairs beside a sign reading: "Mitt Romney. Not my cup of tea."
Ann Kolifrath said she and her husband got involved in politics after deciding President Obama was taking the country on the wrong course. But she said she could not support Romney because she believes he changes his mind too often.
"I think Mitt Romney's a nice guy. However, he's changed his views on so many issues that I don't know we can really believe him," she said. "To me he seems like someone who will say what he needs to say to get elected."
When Romney took the stage, he stood in front of a bus painted with the slogan of the Tea Party Express but did not mention the movement by name. He spoke for about 12 minutes, receiving applause when he promised to get America back to work and praised the values of the nation's founders.
"This is the greatest nation in the history of the Earth in part because of the brilliance of these founding parents who understand the power of liberty and freedom," Romney said. "And we're going to make sure to keep it."
Concord resident Terry Tibbetts, who is active in the Tea Party, said he and his wife liked what Romney had to say. But Tibbetts, 70, said Romney does not top his list of candidates - that spot's taken by businessman Herman Cain - because Tibbetts dislikes the health care law Romney signed in Massachusetts and has heard Romney give credence to the idea that mankind has influenced climate change.
Still, Tibbetts said, he will vote for Romney if the candidate clinches the Republican nomination. "As a person I think he's a great man, a great family man, a great businessman," Tibbetts said. "If he wins the nomination, I'll support him, no question about it."
At the protest, conservative activist Jerry DeLemus was among the speakers addressing a crowd of reporters. DeLemus, who chairs the Granite State Patriots Liberty PAC, said Romney has not taken up offers to visit local Tea Party groups. He worried the rally would provide the perfect photo opportunity for Romney to claim he had the support of the state's activists.
"If he's not willing to speak to the New Hampshire Tea Party groups and liberty groups in New Hampshire, he should just get on one of those buses and leave the state with them," DeLemus said.
News of the planned protest brought Anthony Archibald, 31, to Concord to show his support for Romney. Archibald, who spent the summer in Wolfeboro, said he agrees with the principles of the Tea Party and believes Romney does too. With a powerful Democratic majority in Massachusetts, he said, Romney had to compromise to get things done as governor.
"There are certain things you have to concede on to be productive," Archibald said. "I think he did the things that were necessary to improve the health care in Massachusetts."Archibald said he considers it unproductive for activists to publicly denounce a conservative candidate.
Tracy Mullane, who drove from her home in Tewksbury, Mass., for the event, said she dislikes the health care law in her state because she doesn't think the government should order people to purchase insurance; that makes her worry if Romney is conservative enough. But Mullane, 50, said she likes Romney's business experience and wants a president who can help create jobs.