Rush was gleefully claiming personal responsibility for a 7 pt. Hillary bounce

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

in Indiana! It was just disgusting.

How does it feel to know that Rush Limbaugh is propping up Hillary at the expense of Obama, the Democratic Party and even our whole political system of primaries, based on free and FAIR voting?

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

1. Great.

I hope he doesn't forget to remind his listeners to vote for Obama in the GE, that'll really screw up are party.

:thumbsup:

[rinsd]

2. Why do you believe that moron?

[GarbagemanLB]

5. CNN exit polls show that 88% of those who plan on voting for McCain in November voted for

Hillary in Indiana.

[EstimatedProphet]

12. No they don't

If anything, that show that if the race is between clinton and McCain, 41% of those who said they would vote for McCain votend for Clinton yesterday, and 59% said they would vote for Obama.

[GarbagemanLB]

19. ?

http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/primaries/results/epolls/index.html#INDEM



page 3

[rinsd]

27. Strange that they did not include Hillary in that question.

Even weirder is 8% saying they won't vote in Nov.

[bunnies]

16. And if that 88% = more than 18,000 votes...

Operation chaos just might have been a success.

[AZBlue]

8. All polls point to Rush!

[seabeyond]

because i watched it in texas primary? n/t

[rinsd]

25. When Obams WON the GOP vote?

[MadBadger]

10. Done the calculations, and its true.

If you take the dittoheads out from both sides, based on exit polls, Obama wins by 40,000 votes. 1.96 percent on Obama's side and 6.56 percent on Hillary's side. Granted these are exit polls, but I think Obama would have at least won.

[rinsd]

22. CNN exits have the GOP vote at 10% of the electorate with Hillary winning them 54-46.

10% is what the GOP vote has been at in other open voting contests.

So even with Operation Chaos at full throat, the turnout in an open primary remained the same.

Don't give that asshole credit when he deserves none.

[MadBadger]

26. There was a question asked about who they would vote for if its Hillary and McCain

16 percent of all voters said they would vote for Hillary. OF those, 41% were Clinton Supporters. That means 6.56 percent of all voters were Hillary people who wont support her in the GE. For Obama, that number is only 1.96 percent of all voters. Thats what I'm going off of.

[rinsd]

29. The question was if it was Obama & McCain. Hillary was not asked about.

I find it strange that they did not ask the same question with Clinton & McCain.

Even stranger....8% of respondents to that question said they would not vote in Nov.

Who votes in a primary but not Nov?

[MadBadger]

33. I dont think they did in NC, but they did in Indiana.

[anigbrowl]

35. You need to take a closer look at the exit poll

Parallel questions were asked for both Obama vs. McCain and Clinton vs. McCain. http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/primaries/results/epolls/#INDEM Note that the #s for Clinton and Obama are on different pages.

People saying they wouldn't vote are Hillary or Obama supporters who don't want to vote McCain but can't bring themselves to vote for the other Democratic candidate for whatever reason. In other words, those who will sit it out if their candidate isn't an option. They're loyal to the candidates rather than the party, more likely registered independents.

[rinsd]

41. I see it now...thanks.

[anigbrowl]

43. Please see my #42 as well for a math-based (non partisan) analysis of these #s.

[rinsd]

46. Nicely done.

[faithfulcitizen]

37. There is no way on God's green earth, only 1 in 10 repubs voted in our primary here.

There were no hotly contested repub primaries at all! They knew how much their vote mattered in this primary, and how very rare it is to have such influence. They wanted to make history here, and they did. If there's one thing I can say positive about Indiana repubs is that THEY ALWAYS VOTE. What people don't seem to understand is HOW EASY it is for them to ask for a dem ballot. We DO NOT register for a political party.

[anigbrowl]

42. CNN exit polls suggest about 17% of 'pubs want McCain but voted for a Dem yesterday.

http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/primaries/results/epolls/#INDEM

Clinton vs. McCain is on the first page; 17% of participants would vote for McCain, and 59% of those voted for Obama, 41% for Clinton. That gives you 10% for Obama, 7% for Clinton. Percentages are of the total Dem vote.

Obama vs. McCain is on the second page: 18% of participants would vote for McCain, and 88% of these voted for Clinton, 12% for Obama. That gives you 15% for Clinton, 2% for Obama. Percentages are of the total Dem vote.

I rounded to whole numbers, in case you're wondering why the figures seem slightly off. You can easily check the numbers precisely by copying the numbers from CNN into a spreadsheet, but since all polls (even exit polls) are subject to a margin of error, I see no value in getting into fractions of a percentage point.

So it looks like slightly more than a 6th (~221,000 voters) of Dem voters in Indiana yesterday were McCain voters trying to weaken the Democratic candidate they dislike/fear more. And it looks like they went about 65-35 for Clinton, suggesting her margin of victory *among GOP spoiler voters* was about 66,000. Which is about 3x her actual, total margin of victory.

If you took ALL the McCain-in-the-GE voters away from BOTH candidates, Obama would have won the Indiana primary by about 35-40,000 votes.

[faithfulcitizen]

32. 58% of IN Democrats say Obama can beat McCain, only 37% of say Clinton.

You think all those dems voted against their best interests? What in the world would account for the difference between 58% and the 49% of the actual vote he won. If you don't live in Indiana or follow our politics closely, YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND.

Rush and Hannity are beloved here. :puke: I had 5 (that I know of) family members vote for Hillary because they think Obama will crush McCain.

[book_worm]

3. They guessed this would be the case last night, but I don't see it.

Hillary was leading most polls in Indiana by a larger margin than she won by. It could be her 2-pt victory was due to ditto heads though.

[Tatiana]

13. If you look at the county by county returns you can see the Limbaugh effect.

It wasn't effective across Indiana. Just in certain counties.

What happened is that Obama overperformed in areas like Allen County (Ft. Wayne) and the South Bend area, which helped him overcome some of the crossover voting.

Evansville clearly had some Republican crossover for Hillary, IMO.

[dogday]

4. Since we did we ever believe him in the first place...

Considering what a dick he is, I question his motives to do anything concerning our party....

[anigbrowl]

30. It's not him I believe, but CNN

It is a fact that he's been encouraging people to vote for Hillary in order to extend the Dem primary. It's certainly not because he likes her or anything, it's just a mix of publicity stunt and a desire to fuck with the Democratic party.

Both candidates picked up votes from Republicans who said they didn't share either candidates' values, and are presumably McCain voters. But Clinton picked up a lot more, more than her margin of victory against Obama. I think the exit polls are trustworthy on this point - I mean, what Democrat would lie to an exit pollster about wanting to vote McCain in November?

I don't blame Hillary for this. But her fingernail victory was so small, it looks to be about half of the number that said they would vote for McCain vs. each Democratic candidate.

[dogday]

31. You do know Obama has picked up a substantial amount

of Republican voters, right?

[anigbrowl]

36. Apparently you didn't actually read my message before replying. I said so explicitly.

[dogday]

39. Yes I read it, but I wanted reinterate it for the record...

It is a good post...

[Stagecoach]

6. Did anyone expect him to claim to be wrong?

[EstimatedProphet]

7. Rush is a lying piece of shit

And when we buy into the idea that people voted for Clinton simply because they were following Rush's orders, we dismiss the majority of people that did vote for Clinton because she addresses their concerns. We need to quit this shit.

[PassingFair]

11. RIght, because rethuglicans LOVE "Hitlery".

Puhlease, he may big a BIG FAT LIAR,
but his ditto-heads do what he tells
them.

[EstimatedProphet]

18. Of course you must be right

Because after all, no one could possibly vote for Clinton simply because they wanted to, and not because they are following orders from Rush!

See, there are a lot of Democrats who support Clinton. Not everyone who supports Clinton is doing it simply because they were told to by Rush.

[jenmito]

14. Then why did the vast majority of Repubs. who voted for Hillary say they were going to vote for

McCain in the GE?

[EstimatedProphet]

20. Why did the majority of Democrats who voted for Clinton say they were going to

vote for Clinton in the GE?

Do you actually think that all of her support is Repub operatives?

[anigbrowl]

38. No, just that support that is GOP spoilers seems to be larger than her margin of victory

If you take out the percentages of Republicans who would vote for McCain in the GE but who voted for Clinton OR Obama (yes, he got some - I'm not trying to spin that away), then Obama comes out slightly ahead.

[EstimatedProphet]

44. That I can accept

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

24. There are sincere crossover Republican voters for BOTH Obama and Clinton

But there is a nasty subset of Rush Limbaugh puppets doing his bidding. It's horrifying to think that there are that many immoral, unethical, politcal empty vessels (and vassals) doing the dirty work of a malevolent radio host. In my opinion he is openly suborning voter fraud and I can't understand how he is getting away with it. He is clearly telling people to disrupt out Democratic primaries. He is depriving one specific candidate of winning margins and inflating the margins of the other. How is this any different than illegal procedures like phone jamming, caging, sending out postcards with the wrong polling place, etc.?

[EstimatedProphet]

45. I can agree with that, and it isn't any different

Although I don't believe it is s large a factor as he makes it out to be. I just disagree with the people who are posting that Clinton voters are automatically Limbots, because I don't like dismissing a constituency of the party.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

47. I think the percentage is (sadly) an actual factor in a close race

Apparently he was getting his figures from the telvision pundits who were extrapolating from the exit polls. Of course the far larger majority of Clinton votes are legit. But Limbaugh is helping her efforts (even though she is not connected in any way) and harming Obama.It puts Obama in the position of having to have double digit blowouts in order to record a win.

I would be just as pissed if the Limbots were voting for Obama. The man is subverting our election system. Where is the Justice Department on this?

[kid a]

9. an absolute rotting man with a vile spirit

[Xenotime]

15. How is what he is doing not illegal?!?

I don't get why he ins't in jail.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

28. Please see my post 24. I don't get it either. nt.

[Name removed]

17. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[EstimatedProphet]

21. It's not like anyone can tell the difference between you and an arrogant jerk either.

[BlooInBloo]

23. I know *I* sure can't!

[seaglass]

34. Why is such weight given to Rush Limbaugh on DU?

He's just trying to make himself relevant. Who cares what he thinks or says?

[Echotrail]

40. Limbaugh will be off the airwaves when a Democrat is in the WH

New chiefs at the FCC will enforce laws against hate speach as well as rules against abusing the public airwaves.

We can expect Limpballs to become even more unglued as time goes on. That egomaniac will soon be relegated to a fly-by-night station he operates out of his basement.

No more Rush Babies!}(

[walldude]

48. Please... Rush's numbers will go up when a Dem takes the WH

the republicans are going to need a corner to cower in while we try to fix all the shit they fucked up.