I was interested to see that Democratic political action groups have jumped into the Florida fray between leading Republican candidates Romney and Gingrich (or is it Gingrich and Romney?) They are floating negative ads about Romney in the belief that weakening him may help Gingrich, whom they consider weaker, triumph.
Well, politics is politics, but it seems to me this effort bears some risk of backlash. First, because I am not so sure Gingrich is the weaker candidate; he's done a pretty good job so far of getting people to ignore his past, he's a good debater, and many voters will like his populist Southern stance. Romney, on the other hand, comes across as just another politician and isn't presenting the best image right now. That may change, but it's worth considering.
Second, this sort of Democratic involvement in a Republican in-house affair may rankle some Republicans. It's not unprecedented -- both parties have on occasion encouraged their "base" to go vote in the other party's primary (where this is permitted) to try to steer toward choice of a candidate they deem weaker. I'm pretty sure this occurred in the last primary for Virginia governor, where an obvious loser came out on top of the Democratic primary. Still, I think it's politically wiser to let Republicans choose their candidate without outside influence; ultimately the result may be just as favorable to Democrats, or even better.
The common thread is the law of unintended consequences. He who unleashes them must live with them.
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