NH Tea Party Members Stage Anti-Obama Rally

As promised members of the Rochester 912 Project, Granite State Patriots Liberty PAC and other groups staged a rally and march to voice their opposition to President Barack Obama before his arrival at Rochester Commons.

Several passing motorists honked their horns in approval as they drove past the rally staged in front of Citizens Bank. Just after 1 p.m., the marchers led by Jerry DeLemus, head of the Rochester 912 Project, made their way down Main Street chanting, 'Live free or die, live free or die!" and "Hey ho, Hey ho, Obama must go!"

Their goal was to get as far as Rochester Commons where the President was scheduled to speak at 4:30 p.m. following his visit to Windham High School on Saturday morning. But they were stopped by Rochester Police in front of the Walgreen's pharmacy and told to turn around and rally at the intersection of Columbus and Main streets.

As far as DeLemus and other members of the group were concerned, they still made their voices heard.

"I'm not crazy about Romney, personally," said DeLemus. "But I think he (Obama) is going to bankrupt our country."

DeLemus said Obama has proven to be a very divisive President who has fueled the fires of class and racial warfare to serve his political ends. "I really thought as a nation we were beyond that," he said.

DeLemus said he wishes Republican Presidential frontrunner Mitt Romney and his Vice Presidential running mate Paul Ryan would reach out to the NH Tea Party groups, but they have not done that.

Erol Yurtseven of Rochester held up his sign that read "Socialism" to go with his T-shirt of the former Chinese leader Mao Se Tung. "Socialism is a cancer that feeds on itself," is how he described President Obama's policies such as the Affordable Care Act.

Jane Cormier of Alton who is running for the NH House in District 8 in Belknap County said she came out to support the Tea Party members because she also doesn't favor President Obama's policies. "I'm really concerned that we are losing our personal and individual freedoms in this country," she said.

When Rochester Police forced the rally marchers to turn around well before they reached Rochester Commons, DeLemus said sarcastically, "That's tolerance and diversity and freedom of speech and all of the things you hear about."