The first thing to notice is that the money is a lot better at tearing someone else down than lifting one's self up in the polls. This encourages all candidates (I am not even going to play this bullshit game that the candidate's backers are not actually affiliated with their candidate) to focus on negativity, and doing as much damage as possible with well-timed and concentrated commercial assaults.
The extra money has created great volatility among the candidates, which in turn is propelling the GOP toward its own worst nightmare: a multiple-ballot convention. As long as there is enough money out there, the GOP candidates are playing a giant game of whack-a-mole, with the candidate emerging on top from the last round of negative smearing against someone else instantly becoming the target for the next round of smears.
And of course, since rich people insist on a return for their investment, the money is going to see its chance for a payoff by taking this thing to a convention. I think that about three-quarters of the money will actually be maneuvering in favor of a convention decision, since that will be the best way to keep their investments viable the longest, and give them the best chance of getting their guy in via the smoky back room even if he's been crushed by others' negative advertising.
Even better, I think it's unlikely that the eventual nominee will simply be able to walk away from the damage that has already been done to him. By the time the attack ads finally focus on President Obama, I'm going to guess that around six out of ten voters will have already decided in his favor thanks to this bloodbath circus.
The President will need only offer subtle reminders of what his opponent's peers said about him, while otherwise taking the high road. I believe that may make President Obama the primary beneficiary of all this money being blown.
That couldn't make me happier.
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