Over the past year, news coverage of tea baggers’ protest rallies has given them the appearance of a groundswell movement overtaking the nation. Pundits regularly cite them as dominant players in the coming elections. Recently, the Republican establishment has started courting them. And yet, despite all Sturm und Drang, a new Quinnipiac poll finds that just 13 percent of the electorate claims to be affiliated with tea party groups.

My theory of why no one in politics likes to think about political science: because it renders them powerless. How do you do your job as a political consultant when the truth is that 90 percent of the success or failure of what you do will be determined by the unemployment rate? … The point is, we need to believe we’re in control. Political science tells everyone in politics the opposite: You’re not in control. The economy rules your fate — the rest is just pissing in the wind.

— Ryan Sager, author of “The Elephant in the Room: Evangelicals, Libertarians, and the Battle to Control the Republican Party.”

To some, it’s better than humping,
Even candidates who are stumping.
I just wish that Trish
Would indulge my fetish
And show me some hot pedal pumping.

In one of the most transparently false attempts at spin we’ve seen since the Bush administration left town, Palin is trying walk back what she intended to convey by releasing a map that shows rifle sights marking districts of members of Congress she has targeted for defeat — a hit list, if you will — which she sent out with a personal message to her violence-prone base: “Don’t Retreat, Instead — RELOAD!”

At about 1:25, a man in a black shirt and white baseball cap spits on Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Mo., who is also a Methodist minister.

A Bloomberg survey finds that more than 90 percent of Tea Party backers say the U.S. is verging toward socialism, but 70 percent want a federal government that fosters job creation.

Republicans’ claim they’ll run on “repeal and replace” this fall may be their most ridiculous lie yet.

he Hill has reported that White House spokesman Robert Gibbs (once again proving he deserves Trish’s undying adoration) has compared Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) to a petulant child.

The sharp-tongued spokesman compared the cranky Sarah Palin co-conspirator to a child who wanted to “take his toys and go home.”

The ace we have in our pocket is the Republican party. The Republicans have concluded that their success lies in our failure. The American people are smart. They smell a rat. They know there was nothing about trying to get a better bill.

— Vice President Joe Biden, quoted by Fox News, on the administration’s health care victory.