barack obama? that s the worst thing is i don t know. last night after the debate i posted on my facebook wall that i felt worse after that debate, and i m going to go start a cupcake shop. [laughter] greg freg well, if she doesn t know, maybe they don t like any of them. david hockings, editor of cq s roll call daily briefing. michele bachmann, rick perry and rick santorum should be tea party favorites, and yet their poll numbers are absolutely abysmal. is the influence of the tea party beginning to diminish? what s going on here? well, i think i don t think the influence of the tea party is beginning to diminish. i think it s a little early yet. they ve still got a little time to get themselves together. one thing that, of course, we need to remember is the tea party is not a monolith, it s not even, i would argue, as monolithic at the socially conservative movement. the tea party is a pretty