Romney's scortched earth campaign

For those of you unfamiliar with the term, a scorched earth policy is when an invader, realizing he cannot have the territory he covets, sets it ablaze, so no one else can have it either. Saddam Hussein's torching of the Kuwaiti oil fields is probably the best modern day example.

Politically, Mitt Romney is engaging in exactly this same type of campaign in Florida. With all self control of a 2 year old throwing a tantrum and all the finesse of the Nazi blitzkrieg, Romney is hitting Newt Gingrich with an assault in Florida that is equal parts foolish, irresponsible and downright repulsive.

$18 Million. That's right, EIGHTEEN MILLION DOLLARS is how much Romney and his surrogates have spent on negative, slanderous ads in Florida. $18 Million for what amounts to less than 5% of the delegates needed to secure the nomination. At that rate, the nomination would cost Romney close to $400 Million. This is to say nothing about a general election match up against Obama. This is a level of efficiency and financial responsibility that we had previously only seen from Democrats.

Unfortunately, this isn't just about money. Romney's attacks on Gingrich have been right out of the leftwinger's handbook and have begun to bloody the entire Conservative movement. Yesterday, the Democrats led in the Rasmussen congressional ballot for the first time in nearly 3 years. In November it was the GOP +12. Polls are now showing independents starting to move back towards Obama. Romney's own negatives have risen by 20 points since the beginning of the year. Romney is being seen more and more as nothing more than a thug, a classless schoolyard bully. I am afraid that I cannot argue with the characterization.

Romney seems totally oblivious to the damage he is doing. In fact, it looks as though a Romney led Republican establishment is hell bent on the final extermination of the conservative wing of the party. It is difficult to see how this helps us in November. It is impossible to see how this helps us after November.

In the end, despite all this, I think the bad economy and the specter of $5 gas, returns the independents to the GOP and Obama goes down to defeat. However, if Romney is the guy who does it, you will excuse my lack of enthusiasm. My guess is that John Boehnner won't notice the difference.