Mississippi Cross-Over Voters:

[mod mom]

Mississippi Crossovers
03.12.08 -- 12:20AMBy Josh Marshall
I suspect partisans on either side will draw different interpretations from it. But here's another interesting tidbit out of the Mississippi exit poll. The conventional wisdom and to a significant degree the reality in many other states has been that Barack Obama has picked up the lion's share of Republican crossover voters. Not in Mississippi. According to MSNBC's exit numbers, Republicans made up either 12% or 13% of the voters in tonight's primary. And they went for Hillary Clinton by a decisive 3 to 1 margin.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/182967.php



MCCAIN IS LOCKED IN AS THE NOMINEE. RUSH'S ROLE:



▪ What might have actually happened in Ohio and Texas? Tin foil hat?
▪ Clip:
: "Rush, I understand that the Rush Limbaugh audience is mobilizing in Texas for Hillary. Am I hearing that right?"

: "I don't know if the audience is mobilizing or not. I am urging people — I am using a phrase — the Republicans — our nominee is chosen. It's John McCain.

Texas is open. And 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.

As you probably know, we're getting all kinds of memos from the RNC saying not to be critical there. Mark MacKinnon of McCain's campaign says he'll quit if they get critical over Obama.

This is the presidency of the United States you're talking about. I want our party to win. I want the Democrats to lose. They're in the midst of tearing themselves apart right now. It is fascinating to watch, and it's all going to stop if Hillary loses.

So yes, I'm asking to cross over and, if they can stomach it — I know it's a difficult thing to do to vote for a Clinton — but it will sustain this soap opera, and it's something I think we need. It would be fun, too."

http://www.thomhartmann.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=609&Itemid=113

[HooptieWagon]

1. wow, HRC may not have broken 30% without pukes' votes...n/t

[mod mom]

2. This happened in TX & Ohio also. In Ohio:

16,000 Republicans in Cuyahoga crossed over and voted Democratic in primary

Source: Plain Dealer

16,000 Republicans in Cuyahoga crossed over and voted Democratic in primary
Sunday, March 09, 2008
Amanda Garrett
Plain Dealer Reporter

A staggering 16,000-plus Republicans in Cuyahoga County switched parties when they voted in last week's primary.

That includes 931 in Rocky River, 1,027 in Westlake and 1,142 in Strongsville. More than a third of the Republicans in Solon and Bay Village switched. Pepper Pike had the most dramatic change: just under half its Republicans became Democrats. And some of those who changed - it's difficult to say how many - could be in trouble with the law.

At least one member of the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections wants to investigate some Republicans who may have crossed party lines only to influence which Democrat would face presumed Republican nominee John McCain in November.


Those who crossed lines were supposed to sign a pledge card vowing allegiance to their new party...

-snip
http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/120505162549970.xml&coll=2


Ohio GOP roots for Hillary
BY HOWARD WILKINSON | [email protected]
E-mail | Print | digg us! | del.icio.us!
One of the worst-kept secrets of the Ohio presidential primary is that Republican party leaders have a candidate they are rooting for on the Democratic side.

Her name is Hillary Clinton, and they believe that if she wins the Ohio primary and goes on to become the Democratic nominee, she will be the one who unites their dispirited and divided party and give them their best chance of keeping the White House this fall.

It is a belief that the Clinton campaign says is wrong-headed and they will campaign across the state for the next three weeks making the argument that their battle-tested, experienced candidate is the only one who can go toe-to-toe with John McCain, the presumptive GOP nominee this fall.

-snip

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080213/NEWS01/302130097

Cross-over voting under Ohio law


March 4, 2008

Edward B. Foley
Director, Election Law @ Moritz
Robert M. Duncan/Jones Day Designated Professor of Law
Moritz College of Law


Blogs at both the Plain Dealer and Dispatch are reporting Republican cross-over votes in the Democratic candidate for Senator Clinton on the ground that she would be an easier nominee for Senator McCain to beat. It is unclear how widespread this phenomenon is and whether, if calculable, could make a difference in either the statewide total popular vote or the awarding of delegates between Senators Clinton and Obama. There is also the question whether it is legal, and if not, whether it is remediable in any way.

Although it is widely reported that Ohio permits Republicans to vote in the Democratic primary (and vice versa), that is not technically true. Ohio law does permit voters to switch party affiliation on the day of the primary, but it has a rather awkward mechanism that attempts to ascertain that the switch is sincere—and to prevent insincere “party-raiding” of the kind that (as described above) is being reported today.

Section 3513.19 of the Ohio Revised Code states that it is the “duty” of poll workers in Ohio “to challenge the right of person to vote” in a particular party’s primary if a poll worker “doubts” the person’s eligibility based on the ground (among others) that the person is "not affiliated with or is not a member of the political party whose ballot the person desires to vote.” The same section further specifies that the poll worker is to determine the voter’s previous party affiliation by examining the voting records of the past two years. If those records show the voter to be a Republican, for example, then before giving the voter a Democratic ballot in the current primary, the statute then directs the poll worker to have the voter sign a “statement, made under penalty of election falsification, that the person desires to be affiliated with and supports the principles of the political party whose primary ballot the person desires to vote.”

-snip


But what of the possibility of a suit in federal court? Senator Obama theoretically could claim that the variable enforcement of this state law in different precincts violates the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution as interpreted in Bush v. Gore. That claim might not be ultimately meritorious, but it cannot be rejected out of hand for the reasons I have explained in an extended analysis of this Equal Protection precedent (as well as in a follow-up piece).

-snip
http://moritzlaw.osu.edu/electionlaw/freefair/articles.php?ID=367


March 6, 2008

Turnout, Technology and Nature
Marred Balloting in Ohio
By IAN URBINA and RANDY KENNEDY

-snip

One of the surprises Tuesday in Ohio was the number of registered Republicans who crossed over to vote in the Democratic primary, which election officials said was particularly obvious in usually heavy Republican precincts. But Edward B. Foley, director of the election law project at Ohio State University, said those crossover voters might not have been handled in accordance with state law.

Poll workers, he said, are supposed to challenge any voter whose eligibility they doubt based on voting history and whether the voter was affiliated with a different party for at least two years. The law also requires voters in question to sign a statement verifying their desire "to be affiliated with" and to support "the principles of the political party whose primary ballot the person desires to vote," he said.

"In Franklin County, my impression is that there was no enforcement of this requirement," said Professor Foley, adding that he had heard reports from several other counties where the law apparently was not enforced.

-snip

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/06/us/politics/06vote.html?scp=1&sq=urbina+cuyahoga+sandusky+brunner+ohio+ballots&st=nyt






An Obama-Hater for Clinton, Temporarily
BY JASON HOROWITZ | MARCH 5, 2008 |

Meet Todd Appelbaum, a 46-year-old from Columbus, who wore a shirt that says “Osama for Obama” to the Clinton campaign’s election-night event in Ohio last night.
The white t-shirt, with an image of Barack Obama dressed in traditional Somali garb, is adorned with a blue Hillary Clinton button, although Appelbaum is not what one would call a real Hillary Clinton supporter.
“I voted for Hillary today,” he said, “because I’m concerned that, God forbid, Barack Obama will beat McCain. The enemy of my enemy is my friend.”

http://www.observer.com/2008/obama-hater-clinton-temporarily

[mod mom]

3. Republicans are calling it "the plot":

A movement is afoot ...

Some Republicans refer to it as "the plot."

It started a few weeks ago when conservative radio powerhouse Rush Limbaugh suggested that his Republican following cross over during the primary to vote for Clinton. Clinton, Limbaugh argued, would be easier for McCain to beat in November.

Soon, local morning radio show host Bob Frantz echoed Limbaugh on WTAM AM/1100, and the buzz began to grow.

-snip

http://blog.cleveland.com/openers/2008/03/crossover_vo

[HooptieWagon]

4. I had heard about that prior to TX and OH

Perhaps we should obtain recordings and transcripts and send copies to all the Superdelegates? I can't imagine they'd want to pick the trailing candidate, let alone if the trailing candidate's numbers were inflated by Reps hijinks.

[ProgressiveEconomist]

5. Also from MSNBC exit poll numbers: 13% of Clinton voters would be dissatisfied should she

become the nominee (President?), while 4% of Obama voters would be dissatisfied should he become the nominee (President?). IMO, this may be evidence of tactical voting for Hillary, with perhaps 13% of her Mississippi primary support likely to opt for McCain in the fall.

[mod mom]

6. Let's hope the super delegates are taking note of this

[mod mom]

7. SINCE MCCAIN SECURED NOMINATION Cross-over voters more than doubled:

The GOP is now gaming our primary for Clinton. It's time to end it.
by JedReport

Wed Mar 12, 2008 at 06:15:58 AM PDT

Now that John McCain has won the GOP nomination, Republicans are voting in the Democratic primary in increasing numbers, hoping to pick their opponent for the November election, or at least cause more turmoil in our already divisive nomination battle.
Their choice? Hillary Clinton.
Yesterday, in the Mississippi primary, 24% of Hillary Clinton's support came from Republicans. Unlike the Republican support generated by Barack Obama, according to exit polling data, Clinton's Republican support appears to be part of the explicit plan promoted by radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh to wreak havoc upon the Democratic Party by voting for Hillary Clinton.
JedReport's diary :: ::
::
Let's first take a look at the bigger picture.
In January and February, while the Republican nomination contest was still being waged, just 3.9% of Democratic primary voters were self-described Republicans. On March 4, the day that John McCain won enough delegates to secure the Republican nomination, Republican participation in Democratic primaries more than doubled.
As you might remember, a day earlier, Rush Limbaugh had appeared as a guest on several radio shows to encourage Republicans in Ohio and Texas to cross party lines and vote for Clinton as way of sabotaguing the Democratic primary promise. On election day, Bill Clinton gave an interview to the guest host of Rush Limbaugh's show.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/3/12/81339/4516/40/474909