Who will be the last Republican standing?

There are all kinds of quirky shows on television. One of the oldest ones is “Demolition Derby.” The show involves old cars or trucks smashing into one another, and the last vehicle capable of moving is declared the winner. Somehow the Republican presidential primary contest is very much like a Demolition Derby, and an indication of what the race to November will look like.

Ugly election campaigns are nothing new in this country. The contest between George H.W. Bush and Gov. Michael Dukakis was dominated by the Willie Horton commercials. Horton, a black man, became the poster child for the effort to label Dukakis soft on crime. Horton, a convicted murderer, was given a weekend furlough in Dukakis’s home state of Massachusetts. While out of jail he committed rape, assault and a bunch of other crimes, and Dukakis got the blame.

The contest between President George W. Bush and Sen. John Kerry was another ugly slugfest. Probably the all-time low was reached when an outside Republican money group called Swift Boat Veterans for Truth attacked Kerry’s superior war record and portrayed him as being unfit for the White House. The term “swiftboated” was born after that successful smear campaign.

Following the Republican Party primary contest is the closest thing to watching a mud bath. The nastiness began in the early days of the primary contests, and it has not ceased. Mitt Romney labels Newt Gingrich “unstable.” Gingrich calls Romney a liar. Gingrich is fading as a candidate, but his mean-spirited style is being picked up by Rick Santorum. Santorum, anxious to appeal to Republican primary voters who want red meat, is attacking Romney on a day-in, day-out basis.

President Obama has not been spared campaign cheap shots. Gingrich has accused Obama of being the “food stamp president” and alleged that he has a “Kenyan anti-colonial” mentality, whatever that means. Santorum took his campaign in a meaner direction last week, accusing Obama of governing by a “phony theology” and questioning the president’s Christian beliefs.