White House press secretary Robert Gibbs, speaking moments after President Obama departed from the briefing room podium, delighted in mocking Sarah Palin for having notes written on her hand during Saturday's Tea Party Nation speech.

“Oh I wrote a few things down,” he said while glancing at his left hand, and then displaying it for all the cameras to see. “I wrote ‘eggs, milk and bread. But I crossed out bread, just so I can make pancakes for Ethan if it snows. And then I wrote down 'hope and change,' just in case I forgot.”

Asked later by RCP if the White House had any reaction to this weekend's tea party convention, and whether the administration viewed it as a real political force this year, Gibbs again took on a mocking tone.

"It seems to be a very successful private enterprise," he said. "I would say that there appear to be fewer speechmakers that are unemployed in this economy than what might have been previously reported."

Turning more serious, he spoke of the tea party movement as reflecting "a great deal of anxiety" across the nation in tough economic times. And he pivoted back to today's message of bipartisanship as the answer.

"Whether you're a Democrat or a Republican, an independent, member of the tea party movement, you want to see this town be able to sit down and talk about their differences but also not just focus on their differences," he said.

--------------------------------------------
Follow the RCP Blog on Twitter.
Become a fan of RCP on Facebook.
--------------------------------------------