My Republican Dad e-mailed me yesterday to alert me to the effort among conservatives to vote for Hillary Clinton so that "the campaign will continue right to the convention," an effort Rush Limbaugh is spearheading on his radio show. As he puts it:
I want Hillary to stay in this, Laura. This is too good a soap opera. We need Barack Obama bloodied up politically, and it's obvious that the Republicans are not going to do it and don't have the stomach for it.
I've largely ignored the story because we've seen talk of this cross-over effect before, most recently in Virginia and Wisconsin, but in those states Republican voters broke for Barack by 49% and 44% respectively.
But that was then, when the Republican primary race was more competitive than it is today and according to The Cleveland Plain Dealer blog, Republicans are switching to vote in the Democratic primary in record numbers (h/t TPM.)
For whom are they voting and why? The post's anecdotal evidence suggests Clinton may do pretty well among Ohio Republicans today, for a variety of reasons.
One woman voted for Clinton in hopes of delivering John McCain a weaker debate opponent. Another picked Obama because her vote could help deny Clinton and her husband a return trip to the White House.A 69-year-old Catholic nun, Sister Ann Marie, was converted to the Clinton camp because of the former first lady's experience. John Baggett, another ex-Republican for Clinton, said he simply wanted to switch, and Clinton represented a known commodity.
"I'm happy with Republicans, in general," Baggett, 50, said. "I don't believe they've done a good job the last eight years."
In Strongsville, middle-aged couple Lucy and Pete See -- longtime Republicans -- both voted for Hillary Clinton. "I like that she has more experience in foreign affairs," Pete See said. "The Republican candidate was older than me.
Lucy See said she voted for Clinton as well. "I want to be part of makiing history," she said.
In North Ridgeville, pollworkers said that by noon nearly 50 Rebublicans had switched to vote Democrat, the highest crossover since the 2000 election.
Most of the focus on the cross-over vote has been on Texas, but since the Republican contest is tighter there, we may actually see more of an impact of Republicans on the Democratic race in Ohio, something to look for tonight.
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