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 and we're going to start off in the right-wing Media Region with one of the fiercest contests yet: #1 seed Rush Limbaugh vs. #5 seed Glenn Beck.
Limbaugh has steamrolled his way through the tournament so far, getting 96 percent against Brent Bozell and 91 percent against Dick Morris. Beck has had a rougher go of things, edging out Michele Malkin with just 55 percent in the first round. Beck did upset #4 seed Bill O'Reilly in the second round, however, with 59 percent. So with Beck's growing margin of victory, is he surging at the just the right time? Or is Rush Limbaugh a heavyweight without parallel?
Later today, voting will get underway in three more Insane 16 matchups: #1 Rick Santorum vs. #4 James Inhofe in the Thecons Region, #1 Marco Rubio vs. #4 Dick Cheney in the GOP Establishment 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.