Waiting for Sarah

NASHVILLE — Stan and Mary Hess own the United States Hot Air Balloon Team in St. Peter’s, Pa. All last year, they had a very direct involvement with the Tea Party movement, renting out balloons for American Prosperity’s climate change-skeptical “Hot Air Tour.” But they had never seen Sarah Palin speak — they’d “missed her by a day several times” during the 2008 campaign — so they added a stop to their Florida-bound vacation and paid $650 for tickets to her banquet speech.

The Hesses were some of the first people in line for Palin’s speech — they got in line at 3:30 local time, and it begins at 8. At 4:30 they were near the front of the line.