Ottumwa, Iowa. As the last rays of a basketball-sized sun bathe the main square of this gritty industrial town in yellow, local Tea Party members are busily preparing for a reading of the Declaration of Independence, setting up the microphones and passing out literature as the sound system blares â??Weâ??re Not Gonna Take Itâ? by Twisted Sister.
Like many in the small crowd gathered under the trees, Clinton Gray is one of the converted.
A slightly built man with wire-rim glasses and an intense gaze, Mr. Gray is a long-time Republican who believes that the United States has departed from the vision of the Founding Fathers and been ruined by years of corruption and mismanagement at the highest levels. Unemployment, skyrocketing debt and inflation have brought the country to its knees.
According to Mr. Gray, it may already be too late to avert disaster.
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