So it's here: The semi-final round of the 2013 Republican March to Madness is upon us. The winners of the regional brackets have all been set and today we begin the process of whittling the field down to a two last contenders.
Voting will start today and last until Monday morning, when we'll announce the two finalists and begin the championship round to crown the poster-child for Republican craziness.
The full tournament recap is here and with such a deep field of lunatics the semifinalists can be proud to be honored as the craziest of the craziest. But only two can survive this second-to-last round. And you decide who moves on.
Later today, we'll kick off our second Freakshow Four matchup, #1 seed Rick Santorum from the Theocons Region vs. #4 seed Dick Cheney from the GOP Establishment Region. But for now we're beginning with #1 seed Rush Limbaugh from the Right-wing Media Region and #4 seed Michele Bachmann from the Teabaggers Region.
Limbaugh's path to victory included wins over luminaries like Glenn Beck and Ann Coulter as well as clowns like Dick Morris. Bachmann knocked off heavyweights like Steve King, Ted Cruz, and Allen West, a true lunatic's row of competitors. Will her string of successes be enough momentum to knock off yet another? We're about to learn the answer.