5% of Clinton's Texas Votes May Have Been Limbaugh Republicans

Darrell Murphy of Livingston, TX wrote the Houston Chronicle on Monday, March 3 (the day before the Texas and Ohio primaries):
Barack Obama's fate will probably be decided today in the Texas primary by Republicans like me. It is my intention to vote for Hillary Clinton, hoping she will win Texas and Ohio.

If this happens, she could still be the nominee for her party, and John McCain would beat her like a drum come November.

An Obama organizer in Collin County reported to OverClinton.com that on March 4:
Early in the morning, one or two people came out of the polling station (I was giving out caucus information to both Hillary and Barack people), and grinned at my Obama sign. One of them even said to me: "I am a Republican and I have just cast my vote for Hillary Clinton. This is the best way to defeat the Democrats..." I said to him: "That is so perverse and it is not good for the democratic process in Texas and in this country..." He smiled and said: "But it works...."

A Texas poll watcher wrote:
All of the precincts (107, 121, 139) at our polling location (Bethany) went to Obama--probably because 9:00 was way past the Clinton supporters' bedtime (being that there were so many old people that came out to vote for her.... I'll go ahead and apologize to the "old people" who are offended by that comment...but not to worry, I'm beginning to feel really old these days)! Not only that but there were also LOTS of Republicans that were voting for Clinton. I noticed it while acting as Election Judge, but it was also confirmed by my boyfriend, a Republican (you can only imagine how interesting our conversations are). He said that over the last few days (and particularly on election day) there were lots of emails from his Republican cohorts telling them to flood to the polls and vote for Hillary--and not to forget to caucus! I think they had three reasons to do so: 1.) to throw the Democratic nomination into real chaos, 2.) to slow down Obama's momentum and 3.) they think they'd rather see Clinton than Obama in the general election.

Those Republicans are something, aren't they?

[On primary day] I also had lots of questions from Republicans about voting in the Democratic Primary and being concerned that they were going to be "registered" as Democrats (as if that'd be a bad thing). Then one of my clerks (an Obama supporter) broke away from the desk and said to me, "I think the Republicans are answering the call." I said, "What do you mean?" He said that some of the voters were indicating that they were voting in the Democratic Primary to skew it! Great, just great. Why doesn't the media report on that?

And, of course, Clinton probably thinks that all of these votes for her are because so many people like her! Even if the media began to report on this Republican ploy in a state like Texas, she'd probably spin it by saying, "I'm just getting the Republican crossover vote." I wonder if she'd be able to keep a straight face while saying that?

Some, apparently were motivated by the desire to keep the Democrats busy with an internal contest until August, while Republican nominee McCain is free to begin fighting the general election. Others sought "to try to pitch Texas, and thus the entire Democratic nomination, toward the candidate who's seen as the weaker general election opponent."

Michael Walz, executive director of the Dallas County Republican Party told the Dallas Morning News:
I have heard from a handful of longtime Republicans who say they are going to cross over and vote for Hillary Clinton. They're thinking that any Republican candidate stands a better chance with her at the top of the ticket.

Speaking to guest host Laura Ingraham on the Monday O'Reilly Factor, talk-show host Rush Limbaugh explained that he had been exhorting Republicans in Texas to vote for Clinton:
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.

The Wall Street Journal picked up the tale on March 6:
Conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh led a campaign to have his Republican followers in Texas cross party lines and vote for Sen. Hillary Clinton in the state’s open primary last Tuesday. Why? Because Limbaugh thinks Republicans can defeat Clinton in a general election. Plus, watching Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama bloody each other in a nomination fight is pure sport for Limbaugh conservatives....

Clinton unquestionably secured a Texas victory, but some locals are convinced it was a false win bolstered by dirty politics. Laura Jean Kreissl, an accounting professor at West Texas A&M University, served as an election official in Canyon, Texas on Tuesday. She contacted the Wall Street Journal to report the hijinks she observed at the four precincts that voted at her polling location.

Of the 181 voters she personally dealt with, 70 offered that they were “Rush Limbaugh voters” who were there to cast ballots for Clinton. “I’m here to vote for Hillary Clinton, I want to see the Democratic Party implode,” one voter told Kreissl....

As Republicans for Obama wrote on their website "Hillary Clinton owes her political life to Rush Limbaugh."