Representative Alan Grayson catapulted from freshman unknown to blue state superstar when he stood on the House floor and said the Republican health care plan amounted to “don’t get sick, and if you do get sick, die quickly.” His comments immediately made him a proxy for a wider war. Conservative groups like the 60 Plus Association and Americans for Prosperity have already spent more than $1 million on ads attacking Mr. Grayson, while he has fought back with brutal attack ads of his own, financed largely by out-of-state Democrats. Some of the Grayson ads criticizing his Republican opponent, Daniel Webster, a former state senator - including one comparing his positions to those of the Taliban – have been widely criticized as over the top. But with both national parties treating the race as a symbolic battle, civility will be hard to find in the final weeks of the campaign.

— Damien Cave