Happy Super Tuesday! You know things are pretty nasty on the Republican presidential campaign trail when Barbara Bush calls the current competition “too ugly.” She’s a veteran of some doozies.

Husband George enlisted Lee Atwater, master of the dark arts, and Willie Horton to drive a stake through the heart of former Massachusetts Governor Mike Dukakis. Son Dubya and Vietnam absentee swift-boated Bay State war hero John Kerry to notch a second term in office. [George W. also outmaneuvered clueless Al Gore on the chad front in Florida.]

Despite those family shenanigans, the former first lady told a conference at Southern Methodist University that the 2012 primary race is “the worst campaign I’ve ever seen in my life.” Mrs. Bush is supporting Mitt Romney, another Massachusetts politico who will go down in the general election just like his predecessors. One gets the sense that Mitt also wishes the campaign was over.

Many share Bush’s view of the campaign, according to a Washington Post/ABC News poll. Romney is viewed unfavorably by 48 percent of independents. Less than a third (32 percent) of respondents like him. A big chunk (30 percent) of Republicans in the survey hold an unfavorable view of Mitt.

Ron Paul, a guy who will never become president, scores highest among independents with a 38 percent favorable rate and 35 percent unfavorable. That’s bad news for Republican voters and music to the ears of president Obama.