Has the Tea Party forsaken Sarah Palin? It seemed that way Wednesday when Michele Bachmann headlined a Tea Party "press conference" on Capitol Hill to oppose Democrats' immigration reform proposals and protest the IRS targeting of conservative groups. While Palin was nowhere in sight, the Minnesota Republican assured a crowd of several thousand that despite her pending retirement from Congress, "I'm here to say to the liberals I'm here for a long, long, long, long, long, long, long, long time." (That's eight "longs" for those keeping track). Then in a moment that felt like a political farewell, she held a baby and led the crowd in singing "God Bless America." When she was done, Texas Republican Louie Gohmert, her Tea Party colleague in Congress, offered a testimonial he said he heard from a Democratic woman in Congress. "She said, you know, people give Michele Bachmann a lot of grief," Gohmert said. "But we have to have some respect for her because there's never been a woman in American history that didn't have a family name to launch her career, that didn't have someone select her as vice president. She came and she rose to this height because she believes in the fundamentals of this nation. She believes in God, and we're honored to have Michele Bachmann in Congress."