One of the ethanol lobby's attacks on Ted Cruz in Iowa was so personal and vicious, that even ethanol-mandate champions like Steve King are attacking the group that ran it.

Why is the ethanol lobby going all out on Cruz? Because Cruz could definitely win Iowa. Think about that: Cruz is the firmest opponent of the industry's favorite subsidy — the Renewable Fuel Standard, or ethanol mandate — and he could carry the industry's heartland, Iowa.

Politicians have historically shed their concern for free enterprise and the environment to pander to the ethanol lobby in order to win Iowa. If Cruz wins while being the No. 1 enemy of the ethanol mandate, he could show that the ethanol industry is a paper tiger.

Liz Mair, a noted critic of Iowa's ethanol industry, includes a discussion of this amongst other issues in her latest piece.

Timothy P. Carney, the Washington Examiner's senior political columnist, can be contacted at tcarney@washingtonexaminer.com. His column appears Tuesday and Thursday nights on washingtonexaminer.com.