Letters to the Editor
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Is The Democratic Presidency being Hijacked?
There something far more nefarious going on according to mydd.com.
http://www.mydd.com/story/2008/2/16/143326/350
...Rove was another step ahead of Obama.
Forty percent of the Obama voters in Iowa were Republicans. Obama will tell you his "inspiration" message is working. Republican operatives tell a different story.There is a very successful GOP strategy to take out Hillary in the democratic primaries that is capitalizing on the Obama strategy.
But more importantly there is a nationwide roster of Republican party activists who have backed Obama and then brought their constituents along with them to vote Independent or cross party lines to vote for Obama. This is a fact of this primary season.
The pattern is so widespread that one has to wonder what is going on?
Obama, via his now obvious campaign strategy outlined above, would have us believe that his cross party appeal is bringing in tons of new voters. Men and women, he asserts, who are abandoning their party to vote for him. And some Democratic Party officials and activists are supporting Obama based on this assertion. Who doesn't want a candidate who can bring in masses of new voters? Nancy Pelosi it has been rumored, impressed by this vote-getting ability, is considering endorsing Obama.
But what if Obama is not actually bringing in tons of new voters? What if Republicans have organized to cross party lines or vote independent with one goal in mind: to defeat Senator Clinton. And what if this strategy was developed by top level Republican party functionaries-- including Karl Rove-- who believe Clinton will be the more formidable opponent in the general election?
Anecdotal evidence in support of a Republican manipulation is everywhere. Remember the recent Obama win in Maryland? Nicole Price, the Maryland political director of Obama's campaign told the Washington Times that when she arrived in the state to ramp up the campaign. She found "a home-grown campaign already thriving." Republicans backing Obama had put more yard signs in Maryland than in South Carolina and they had paid for the signs "themselves." The Times also noted that in Louisiana, where he won by a wide margin, exit polls showed that Republicans who voted in the Democratic primary favored Mr. Obama 3-1 over Clinton. About 5 percent of the voters in the Democratic primary said they were Republicans.
According to the Washington Times story, Daniel B., Chance, a retired oil man, voted for former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee in the Maryland Republican primary in the morning. He then spent the afternoon making calls from the phone bank at the Obama campaign's Baltimore County Headquarters in Towson.
The critical point here is this: what is a loyal Huckabee supporter doing making calls for Obama?
Moreover, the Huckabee supporter joined a large mix of either Republicans like himself or Democrat for-a-day Republican converts who were also making calls on behalf of Obama.
Besides this anecdotal evidence, are there any hard facts which support a widespread Republican manipulation of the Democratic primaries? Time magazine reports,
"Rank and file Republicans in red states have switched their party registrations to vote in Democratic primaries."
In Nebraska, the mayor of Omaha publicly rallied Republicans to caucus for Obama on February 9th. And according to CNN in Iowa 44 percent of those voting for Obama were Republican.
I never thought I would have my suspicions raised to wonder at Obama supporters who come here and tell me about how horrible Clinton is or hate Hillary or how bad the Clinton administration was in the 90s, etc., etc., etc. I just never bought that there could be that many republican shills doing this. Well, I do now.