NH Superdelegates: For Your Consideration

Here's an article (0.00 / 0)

from the Boston Globe today about Republicans voting for Hillary to derail Obama and have her, whom they perceive easier beat, get the nomination.

For a party that loves to hate the Clintons, Republican voters have cast an awful lot of ballots lately for Senator Hillary Clinton: About 100,000 GOP loyalists voted for her in Ohio, 119,000 in Texas, and about 38,000 in Mississippi, exit polls show.

A sudden change of heart? Hardly.

Since Senator John McCain effectively sewed up the GOP nomination last month, Republicans have begun participating in Democratic primaries specifically to vote for Clinton, a tactic that some voters and local Republican activists think will help their party in November. With every delegate important in the tight Democratic race, this trend could help shape the outcome if it continues in the remaining Democratic primaries open to all voters.

Spurred by conservative talk radio, GOP voters who say they would never back Clinton in a general election are voting for her now for strategic reasons: Some want to prolong her bitter nomination battle with Barack Obama, others believe she would be easier to beat than Obama in the fall, or they simply want to register objections to Obama.

"It's as simple as, I don't think McCain can beat Obama if Obama is the Democratic choice," said Kyle Britt, 49, a Republican-leaning independent from Huntsville, Texas, who voted for Clinton in the March 4 primary. "I do believe Hillary can mobilize enough [anti-Clinton] people to keep her out of office."

It appears Limbaugh is having an influence.

Until Texas and Ohio voted on March 4, Obama was receiving far more support than Clinton from GOP voters, many of whom have said in interviews that they were willing to buck their party because they like the Illinois senator. In eight Democratic contests in January and February where detailed exit polling data were available on Republicans, Obama received, on average, about 57 percent of voters who identified themselves as Republicans. Clinton received, on average, a quarter of the Republican votes cast in those races.

But as February gave way to March, the dynamics shifted in both parties' contests: McCain ran away with the Republican race, and Obama, after posting 10 straight victories following Super Tuesday, was poised to run away with the Democratic race. That is when Republicans swung into action.

Conservative radio giant Rush Limbaugh said on Fox News on Feb. 29 that he was urging conservatives to cross over and vote for Clinton, their bête noire nonpareil, "if they can stomach it."

"I want our party to win. I want the Democrats to lose," Limbaugh said. "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."

He added, "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."

Has something like this happened to this extent before?

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by: Jennifer Daler @ Mon Mar 17, 2008 at 14:50:42 PM CDT

Greetings from Aruba. (4.00 / 1)

I've been out of the country since early Saturday and hadn't heard about Pelosi, that's great.  Is this the first time Kos has come out for Obama?  I'm not among his readers.  He is very right on this, though.

Personally, I think Pelosi, the Chair of the Convention, has the right idea.  It is possible for this to end before August, and I dearly hope it does.  Here's how: after the last major contests on 5/20 (or perhaps after the FL and MI re-dos) all of the remaining superdelegates should pledge their support to whichever candidate has the national lead in pledged delegates (yes, even if it's Hillary), and the other candidate should step aside and endorse.

On a different note, I'm sick of hearing about the so-called "dream ticket."  As far as I can tell, that is CNN's dream and nobody else's.  Hillary would be a drag on the ticket, even at the bottom.

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@DougLindner

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by: Douglas E. Lindner @ Mon Mar 17, 2008 at 16:07:23 PM CDT

Oh, and before anybody criticizes me for being online, (0.00 / 0)

This isn't Florida, I can't stay in the sun all day here unless I intend for my face to peel off when I get home.

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@DougLindner

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by: Douglas E. Lindner @ Mon Mar 17, 2008 at 16:08:34 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Just the messenger, yo. (0.00 / 0)

I know Kos has family up there. Please don't egg and TP their house. Really. Please.

No re-dos in Michigan or Florida
by kos
Tue Mar 18, 2008 at 10:53:20 AM PDT

-snip
To me, this was never about Obama or Clinton. It was about breaking the stranglehold that Iowa and New Hampshire have enjoyed at the top of the nominating calendar for far too long.

In short, if the DNC cannot enforce its rules and its calendar, then there's no way in hell we'll ever keep Iowa and New Hampshire in check. No matter what calendar the DNC created, Iowa and New Hampshire would move up their contests. And candidates, fearful that the states would ultimately be counted, would be forced to campaign in those states.

So the message had to be sent, no matter how unpopular, that the DNC calendar was sacrosant, and that its rules would be enforced. That message has now been sent.
-snip

There's wide acceptance that this system is broken, that the Iowa/New Hampshire monopoly can no longer stand, that the caucus system is profoundly lacking, that the delegate apportioning system leaves a lot to be desired, and (at least in the party's rank and file) that the super delegate system is less than ideal. Each one of the challenges we've faced this year in our path to the nomination has given us much-needed impetus for future reform.

So regardless the fact that Michigan's and Florida's contests will end up being non-determinative to the nomination, their sacrifices will ultimately help create a system that gives more Americans a voice in the process.

Whack-a-mole, anyone?

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by: Jack Mitchell @ Tue Mar 18, 2008 at 17:04:03 PM CDT

How kos can talk about a monopoly of IA and NH (4.00 / 1)

When we are precisely in this mess because we weren't decisive is beyond me.

But don't let the facts get in the way of a cause adopted a couple years back....

Here's a thought -- what if roatating primaries, because no one could judge the worth of the thing from year to year with everything changing (no four-year comparisions) turned out to get us in this mess every time? We could have every convention brokered. Great.

Don't get me wrong -- this contest is about equally matched candidates. And I'm glad we weren't decisive here.

But if ever there was a case to be made that we don't declare the winner, it's this election. It's just beyond belief to ignore that.

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by: Mike Caulfield @ Tue Mar 18, 2008 at 22:06:14 PM CDT

[ Parent ]