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Republicans Helped Hillary Win Texas
NewsMax.com ^ | 5 Mar 08 | NewsMax.com staff

Posted on 03/06/2008 9:01:19 AM PST by seanmerc

Republican crossover voters apparently helped win the Democratic primary in Texas for Hillary Clinton — with one in every 10 Democratic votes came from Republicans.

And they could have been heeding the call of top-rated radio host Rush Limbaugh, who had been urging Republican listeners to vote for Hillary to prevent the Democrats from unifying around Obama and to keep the two candidates battling each other.

“Hillary Clinton is back in the race, thanks in some small part to Republican voters mindlessly following the commands of radio entertainers and crossing party lines to vote for the candidate they view as weakest,” Bud Kennedy writes in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram Wednesday.

According to exit polls, of the 10 percent of Democratic votes that came from Republicans, about 53 percent of the crossovers chose Obama and 46 percent went with Clinton, the Dallas Morning News reports.

But previously these crossovers had voted overwhelmingly in favor of Obama. And the exit polls also show that Hillary won handily among conservative voters, including many Democrats, 53 percent to 43 percent over Obama, reports the Web site Outside the Beltway — which also noted that “Clinton truly might have won the Texas primary on the backs of Rush Limbaugh listeners.”

Clinton’s overall margin of victory was just 3 percent — about 98,000 votes out of 2.8 million cast.

“Thousands of traditionally Republican voters helped swell the ranks of the Democrats,” the Morning News observed.

“Some crossed over out of support for Mr. Obama, others were simply dissatisfied with their own party’s choice. Still others supported Mrs. Clinton hoping that by helping extend the Democratic feud, they would leave their own party in a better spot this fall.”

Limbaugh claimed at least some of the credit for Hillary’s victory, saying on Wednesday: “What we did, if we did anything, is to create a bunch of chaos in the Democratic Party — and it worked.”


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: Arkansas; US: Illinois; US: New York
KEYWORDS: clinton; clintonistas; clintoon; herroyalhighness; hildebeast; hillaryclinton; hillaryrodhamclinton; mrsbillclinton; obama; obamarama; tx2008
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To: Stand Watch Listen

Or not.


61 posted on 03/06/2008 11:15:02 AM PST by Republic of Texas (Socialism Always Fails)
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To: seanmerc

The article doesn’t mention (big surprise) how the Dems helped McCain in the early Republican primaries. Rush’s strategy was tit for tat.


62 posted on 03/06/2008 11:16:42 AM PST by winner3000
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To: winner3000
The article doesn’t mention (big surprise) how the Dems helped McCain in the early Republican primaries. Rush’s strategy was tit for tat.

Well, hopefully we are done helping Hillary. I don't like the idea of Republicans being responsible for resuscitating her campaign.

63 posted on 03/06/2008 11:20:39 AM PST by NRG1973
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To: Arrowhead1952

>> I talked to two of them the next day, and they confessed to crossing over to vote for the beast.

As I’m sure you know, I have no problem with crossing over... but I wonder why they crossed over for *her*. Did you ask them? I sure hope their reason wasn’t as mindless as “because Rush said it was a good idea”...


64 posted on 03/06/2008 11:22:02 AM PST by Nervous Tick (I've decided to vote for John McCain in December. It's the Maverick Thing To Do.)
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To: WinOne4TheGipper
You are right about McCain getting the independent votes, but Romney, Thompson and Giuliani all got very low percentages.

The independent vote wasn't enough — there was plenty of baggage with Romney, such as never coming clean about his religion, which many conservatives were skeptical about. Also, he was too slick -- the other Republican candidates ALL disliked him very much. It must have impressed Republican voters the same way.

Thompson didn't get a grassroots machinery started, he never gave himself a chance.

Giulani ran a incredibly stupid campaign.

I'm a conservative, not a big McCain fan, but he ran hard, and I give him credit. I don't think the Democrats put him there — the other candidates weak campaigns did...

65 posted on 03/06/2008 11:23:18 AM PST by detch
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To: Astronaut
We could have finished the Clintons permanently, but Rush had to shoot his mouth off and blow it.

Brings to mind that the Pubbies always manage to pull defeat from the jaws of victory.

She was down for the count. But got just enough of a refresher to bring her back to life. And McCain had just been resurrected weeks earlier.

I think we have her on center stage for the next 8 years, now. She and Obama are close enough in the delegate count that they might maneuver a bargain with each other and end up joining forces.

She warned Rush on Fox&Friends the morning after, "Be careful what you wish for, Rush."
66 posted on 03/06/2008 11:33:28 AM PST by TomGuy
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To: Nervous Tick

They both basically admitted they crossed over to “do as much damage to the (d) ticket and help the (R) cause” by making the dims continue to spend $$$s on ads attacking each other before the convention. FWIW, neither of them listen to Rush.


67 posted on 03/06/2008 11:36:21 AM PST by Arrowhead1952 (Both dim candidates promise change and/or hope. I don't think the USA can afford their message.)
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To: psjones
When it because obvious McCain was going to be the Republican nominee I decided to crossover and vote for whoever was behind in the democrat race. Last Tuesday that was Hillary. I didn't need a barf bag but I did take a long shower. On the plus side I got to vote against Dennis Kookchinich for Congress.
68 posted on 03/06/2008 11:38:36 AM PST by CzarNicky (The problem with bad ideas is that they seemed like good ideas at the time.)
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To: seanmerc

Boy are we really gonna feel stupid when Hillary gets the nomination then goes on to win in November.


69 posted on 03/06/2008 11:39:35 AM PST by 38special (I mean come on.)
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To: detch
If there had not been indies and dems crossing over, we may have had a chance to work our way toward unifying behind one candidate. The splintering of the base behind all of these different candidates opened the way for McCain to be pushed over the top by people who had no intention of voting for him in the general election. I remember being a little antsy about this back when everyone was backing any candidate that came down the pike.

That's why I felt like it was absolutely appropriate for a conservative to meddle with the Democrat primary if they so chose. OTOH, if there's an effort to close the primaries in Texas, I wouldn't really have a problem with it, but I know that any such effort would probably be led by Dems who would have themselves crossed over had the primary been earlier.

70 posted on 03/06/2008 11:39:52 AM PST by WinOne4TheGipper (Obama is for (leaving you with pocket) change.)
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To: Arrowhead1952

Oh, she had to dig for it. It was buried deeper than an expired MasterCard.


71 posted on 03/06/2008 11:40:11 AM PST by Xenalyte (Can you count, suckas? I say the future is ours . . . if you can count.)
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To: Arrowhead1952

>> They both basically admitted they crossed over to “do as much damage to the (d) ticket and help the (R) cause” by making the dims continue to spend $$$s on ads attacking each other before the convention.

Whew... glad to hear that. So they and I agree on one of the acceptable outcomes. We just disagree as to the best way to bring it about.

IMO, from a conservative or patriotic viewpoint, there were defensible reasons for voting for any of the four viable candidates in the TX primary (as well as “dumb” reasons for voting for each). That’s the privilege of democracy; each of us can make up our own mind how to best use our vote.


72 posted on 03/06/2008 11:42:13 AM PST by Nervous Tick (I've decided to vote for John McCain in December. It's the Maverick Thing To Do.)
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To: NRG1973
If we were going to have some of our folks cross over we should have had them taken Hillary out.

all i can think is that conservatives have forgotten how the Clintons work... how many times was Bill down and out, only to come back alive and kicking... they are so afraid of Obama... in time, people are seeing him for the empty suit that he is... he is the weaker of the two... Hillary's negatives will not work against her in the end... libs vote for libs...

73 posted on 03/06/2008 11:54:44 AM PST by latina4dubya
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To: Xenalyte

Well, I’d have had to shred mine if it had (d) stamped on it. I have always had Republican stamped on my voter reg card.


74 posted on 03/06/2008 12:06:26 PM PST by Arrowhead1952 (Both dim candidates promise change and/or hope. I don't think the USA can afford their message.)
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To: Nervous Tick

I’m just happy to have the primaries over so I don’t have to listen to “I am Hussein and I approve this message” or “I am the beast and I approve this message” for a few months.

I changed radio stations more than ever when I heard that trash talking coming on. Both of their voices are worse than finger nails on a chalk board.


75 posted on 03/06/2008 12:10:52 PM PST by Arrowhead1952 (Both dim candidates promise change and/or hope. I don't think the USA can afford their message.)
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To: Arrowhead1952

Somebody once said that they could never vote for the Hildebeast because she sounded too much like their ex-wife.


76 posted on 03/06/2008 12:45:19 PM PST by seanmerc
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To: seanmerc

He, he, he.


77 posted on 03/06/2008 12:50:43 PM PST by colorado tanker
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To: seanmerc
Somebody once said that they could never vote for the Hildebeast because she sounded too much like their ex-wife.

That is probably a very good assessment of her screech. She always sounds so bossy.

78 posted on 03/06/2008 12:55:40 PM PST by Arrowhead1952 (Both dim candidates promise change and/or hope. I don't think the USA can afford their message.)
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To: Nervous Tick

No, we had touchscreen. No paper, no muss, no fuss.


79 posted on 03/06/2008 2:56:43 PM PST by Republic of Texas (Socialism Always Fails)
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To: HIDEK6

I deleted his link out of my “Favorites.”


If you can hang there for a few weeks then you’ll be surprised how much you never miss him or his rants, etc.


80 posted on 03/06/2008 3:24:11 PM PST by deport ( -- Cue Spooky Music --)
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