The Mud Is Beginning To Fly

So the mud is beginning to fly... and it makes me think that when it gets bad, it's going to get pretty bad. First up, the State is reporting that Mitt Romney is getting attacked via anonymous mailings in South Carolina:

Anonymous mailings critical of GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney, on the eve of what has become an all-important Spartanburg straw poll, have raised the specter of a long, nasty battle between now and the 2008 S.C. Republican primary.

One of the pieces was sent via U.S. mail Monday to several Spartanburg County Republicans. The letter, a copy of which was obtained by The State, is a six-page attack on Romney’s record on abortion, gun control, taxes and “conservative values.”

It is postmarked Columbia and headlined “Mitt Romney: Say anything to get elected.”

A second piece was sent via electronic mail from the address “upstaterepublican@gmail.com.” It said it was from “Martin W.” and attacked Romney’s faith.

The e-mail is headlined: “Mitt Romney has a family secret he doesn’t want you to know.”

It says: “Those dark suspicions you hide deep inside yourself about Mormonism are trying to tell you something. Trust your instincts! æ.æ.æ. The light of truth will burn through the smoke and mirrors of Mitt Romney’s movie star looks and crafty words!”

The e-mail includes a copy of a recent Associated Press story about how Romney’s ancestors practiced polygamy.

Next, an erroneous comment that Romney made about Giuliani is getting play too. In his interview with David Brody yesterday, Romney said Giuliani was "pro-gay marriage" (which he is not) prompting various news outlets to report that Romney was "smearing" Giuliani. A source "close to the Giuliani campaign" responded to the allegation by saying "It is sad, but unfortunately not surprising, that Mitt Romney's flailing campaign has chosen to misrepresent Rudy's positions. He can't keep his own positions straight let alone Rudy's."

Is it just me, or does it seem like the dam is starting to break on a vicious campaign cycle?

Romney News Tidbits

A few interesting things I've run across:

• Romney's favorite movie is Raiders Of The Lost Ark (CNN)

• Romney is the "PowerPoint president." (US News & World Report)

• Romney raised almost $300,000 on one day last week... in Southern Utah (SL Trib)

• Romney is attacking McCain as a mudslinger to conservative pundits (CBN)

• "[P]eople don't know who the hell [Romney] is yet.” (SL Trib)
  

• Romney raced his sons around a track in January and finished last (AP - 1/2 down page)

• AP reports on Romney's efforts to "overcome inconsistencies" going on to say "As previous White House hopefuls have learned, once a candidate is perceived to have a pattern of inconsistency, labels like flip-flopper and waffler are extremely difficult to shake." (AP)

• Virginia U.S. Senator John Warner has endorsed John McCain (Richmond Times)
  

McCain Gearing Up For Dirty Campaign

John McCain has signed on several persons responsible for Bush's 2000 primary ads against himself (ads which he criticized at length as dishonest and distorting), he has made the person overseeing last fall's racially questionable ads against Harold Ford, Jr. his national campaign manager, and he has hired the advertising firm responsible for 2004's Swift Boat Veterans for Truth ads against John Kerry. Romney beware?

Romney Trying to Undercut McCain on Abortion?

Rumors are swirling that a Mitt Romney aide who is a "point man on conservative outreach" is telling "pillars of the conservative community" that John McCain is actually pro-choice.