Hilarious.

And now comes U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson, who dynamited that model, calling Republicans knuckle-dragging obstructionists who want the sick to "die quickly." If this fits the definition of unstable and unhinged, it certainly seems to have served a very lucid purpose. The Republicans are cowering in knock-kneed terror. Potential challengers are dropping out with comical regularity. The last credible challenger standing is former state Sen. Dan Webster, who is so conflicted he can't say yes and he can't say no.

Dan Webster is no longer standing.

Former state Sen. Dan Webster -- to no one's surprise -- has issued a statement saying he's not running against freshman U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson, D-Orlando.

But Webster is just the latest in a long string of GOP recruitment failures in the district, as Orlando Sentinel columnist Mike Thomas so entertainingly catalogs:

The Republicans look like a bunch of Chihuahuas yapping at the Rottweiler behind the fence. But this Rottweiler not only is snarling and frothing at the mouth, it also went to Harvard. It is a crazy and smart Rottweiler. So there is lots of yapping, but nobody is about to open the gate and take him on. Consider state Rep. Steve Precourt. Last week he boldly announced that Grayson was an "egomaniacal, socialist, loose cannon." Then he announced someone else would have to do something about it because he wasn't running. Yap. Yap. Yap. Orange Mayor Rich Crotty once was considered the Republicans' best hope. In June, Grayson released a seven-page letter explaining in detail how he would gut Crotty over Crotty's leadership of the expressway authority. In early July, Crotty said he had made a decision and would announce it shortly. Days turned to weeks, weeks turned to months — until finally, the mayor gave us his verdict. He could beat Grayson "handily." But he wasn't going to run. Pretty slick. He declared victory and bowed out of the race. The Republicans also tried and failed to recruit Florida House Speaker Larry Cretul of Ocala. At one point, CNL Financial Group President Tim Seneff seemed like a perfect choice. He had no political record to attack, and he had deep pockets to offset what is expected to be a lackluster fundraising cycle. Seneff didn't dawdle like the politicians. A couple days after his name surfaced, he opted out.

The GOP is down to what, their sixth or seventh choice? After years of DLC/Third Way-style Democrats, they're not used to facing the fighting kind. They are completely lost, without a clue what to do.