With the lates NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist Poll showing President Obama with a slight lead over Republican Mitt Romney in the key battleground states of Virginia, Ohio and Florida, expect the Romney ticket to ratchet up the nastiness of their assault on the President. With little to show coming out of the Republican National Convention, team Romney is starting to hear the catcalls from within his own party; from many corners of the GOP, but primarily its lunatic right-wing fringe, that never supported his candidacy from the outset. His dismal performance, including his foot-in-the-mouth moment, when he wrongly criticized the Obama administration at the height of an international incident. Romney's new hardline approach has all the makings of a Bush ("W") neocon rehash, with a fair amount of bold talk, bravado and saber shaking. Romney's premature and immature response to the Libyan crisis exposed the governor's lack of sophistication and lack of knowledge of foreign affairs. Despite his obvious breach of protocol and caculated attempt to one-up the President, Romney is receiving some support within his party, the most calculated being Arizona Senator and former presidential candidate John McCain.

Given the depths to which the GOP has sunk in trying to oust President Obama, expect the level of nastiness to be pumped up exponentially as Republicans sense the election getting awaty from them. Already we have the spectacle of Republicans in several states attempting to suppress minority votes in broad daylight. Then there is the Kansas secretary of state who is kindling the birther fire and suggesting the President's name might be pulled off the ballot. And what would the crowd of crazy be without Rush Limbaugh, who is now suggesting al Qaeda served up Osama bib Ladin to U.S. forces to prop up the Obama administration. This is just the tip of the iceberg. Expect much more from the fringe of the GOP in the coming weeks, from attacks on the President's birth records to inflamatory statements regarding his family. The Romney forces have no shortage of cash to launch an all-out assaut on the President in the closing weeks of the campaign. The outcome will truly define our nation's future course.