It's finally here: the third round of the 2013 Daily Kos Republican March to Madness Tournament, aka The Insane 16. This round features eight epic battles as we crown the craziest Republican of them all. Break out your water bottles because this contest is from the GOP Establishment Region and features #1 seed Marco Rubio against #4 seed Dick Cheney.
Compared with Rubio, Cheney has had an easy tournament, taking out John McCain with 76 percent and Grover Norquist with 59 percent. Rubio, on the other hand, barely beat John Boehner with 52 percent, but he managed a bigger win against Reince Priebus with 58 percent. If this was tournament was purely about the past, Cheney would probably win in a walk, but Republicans are now presenting Marco Rubio as their savior and just about the only policy disagreement he has with Cheney is over marriage equality, which Cheney supports and Rubio opposes. Whatever happens, this should be a tough battle.
Whoever wins this matchup will join the winners #1 Rush Limbaugh vs. #5 Glenn Beck in the Right-wing Media Region, #1 Rick Santorum vs. #4 James Inhofe in the Theocons Region, and #1 Ted Cruz vs. #4 Michele Bachmann in the Teabaggers Region. You'll be able to vote on (and track results of) all the Insane 16 matchups here.
As with previous rounds, you're voting for whomever you believe makes for a better poster-child for Republican craziness. That doesn't necessarily need to mean you're voting for the craziest person, because you might also consider their prominence and influence as well as their association with the GOP. It's entirely up to you. Voting on all Insane 16 matchup will continue until Saturday morning, at which point the Crazy 8 will be set. From there, it'll be on to the Freakshow Four.