“Ryan Hecker” on The Daily Caller

If the presidential election were to happen today, House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin would be the candidate with the Tea Party most strongly in his corner. (more)

Upon last week’s unveiling of the “Pledge to America,” House Republicans received critiques from across the ideological spectrum. As commentators do so well, they quickly engaged in a round of mini-spats between those in support of the document, such as the National Review’s Rich Lowry, and those in opposition, like Ross Douthat at the New York Times. While it is interesting to read the breadth of opinion pieces about the Pledge, the most interesting — and important — data point is the extent to which the document resonates with the American people. (more)

With a federal judge striking down California’s Proposition 8 banning gay marriage, don’t expect Tea Party activists to rally together against the ruling. But don’t necessarily expect them to come together in support of the decision either. (more)

Democrats today mocked Tea Party activists with a fake “Republican Tea Party” agenda, arguing that the conservative grassroots are really elitists who are one and the same with Republicans. (more)

So much is being written in the mainstream media about who the tea partiers are, but very little is being recorded about what these folks are actually saying. (more)

Update 10:40 pm: AP is reporting that Hutchison is conceding the race to Gov. Rick Perry. (more)

Who’s running the Tea Party? As with most questions debated by its activists, there is no consensus. Members of the cross-country network of conservative grassroots groups will say only that they shun formal leadership. (more)