At the Circus: Now It's Personal

His Romneyness is ending his Florida campaign with triumphant condescension, while Casino Newt is continuously livid.  Though some observers suggest the race has tightened in the past 48 hours (the final tracking poll has Romney's margin down to single digits from the 10 to 15 points most recent polls average) it seems that the relentless attacks on Gingles have again taken their toll.

And it has been one seriously ugly circus down there.  Romney spent 16 million dollars trashing Gingles, who spent 5 million dollars trashing Romney.  Romney had five media ads for every one of Newt's.  He trashed Newt in person as well as through his superpac millions.  And Newt is not taking it well.  By several accounts, it's gotten personal.  No fellow candidate has ever expressed much affection for Romney, but Newt is channeling as much hate as he can possibly muster for a white non-Democratic non-President. 

So despite the expected Florida loss, Gingles has vowed to go on to the convention--and though all candidates say this, John Heilemann suggests he means it, for one central reason : "so much has he come to despise Romney and the Republican Establishment that has brought down on him a twenty-ton shithammer in Florida, and so convinced is he of his own Churchillian greatness and world-historical destiny. The same antic, manic, lunatic bloody-mindedness that has made him such a rotten candidate in the Sunshine State may be enough to keep him the race a good long time."   Chris Matthews at MSNBC expects Casino Newt to stay in "long enough to exact revenge."

Though the "establishment" attacks were fierce again last week, they may have goosed Tea Party types to coalesce around Gingles.  Herman Koch-Cain endorsed him, as did Queen Sarah and her chancellor/court jester Todd.  She even said something about Romney being Stalinistic.

So two things are happening here: the Final Conflict between the establishment GOP and the Tevangelist neolithic conservative GOPers, and since these folks are so used to scorched earth tactics and getting off on Armageddon, it could be like Biblical.  That's unlikely to enhance their chances in November.

The second thing is already hurting them, in poll after poll: the mudfest, plus the actual mud they are feasting on, is sending negative ratings for all the candidates and GOPers in general soaring.  Not to flip flop or anything but soaring negatives means positives falling down down down, all the way to hell.