It's going to get messy

  Newt Gingrich pledged early on not to go negative in his campaigning -- quite naive in the current political climate. That plan went by the wayside some weeks ago.

  Mitt Romney's strategy was to run against President Obama, even in the primaries, rather than against his Republican primary opponents. The idea was to be "above the fray" of the primaries. Acting like the nominee was supposed to help him be the nominee. Now that plan is going down the tubes, and things are going to get dirty in Florida -- Gingrich v Romney, Romney v. Gingrich. It should be good fireworks. (It's odd to see "fireworks" and "Romney" in the same sentence. How much more white bread could a candidate be?)

  Ron Paul has his ardent followers, and Rick Santorum has his bleating and whining about being largely ignored even though he has now "won" Iowa. But realistically, the field has narrowed to the two top contenders, and the also-ran's are now all-but-done.