Ohio Dems Want to Prosecute "Rush" Voters

"Operation Chaos" as orchestrated by Rush Limbaugh is working well as hundreds of thousands of Republicans have voted in Dem primaries in an effort to keep the battle going between Hillary and Obama. Some Democrats in Ohio actually want to prosecute Republicans who crossed over if they did so to help promote a weaker candidate on the Dem side:

CLEVELAND -- The Cuyahoga County Board of Elections is investigating whether any Republicans broke the law when they switched parties in the March 4 presidential primary to back the candidate that they perceived to be a weaker opponent for GOP nominee-in-waiting John McCain.

The board expects the results of the investigation March 31. The board wants to know if voters lied when they signed statements pledging allegiance to their new party.

About 16,000 GOP voters crossed over to vote for Democrats in the primary.

It's not clear whether the board will try to prosecute voters. A 2-2 tie by the board to pursue violators would have to be broken by Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, a Democrat.

A Brunner spokeswoman said she hasn't been contacted about prosecuting crossover voters.

This is a lot of bluster. It'll never happen. Besides, the "Operation Chaos" voters were urged to vote for Hillary and her margin in Ohio was much bigger than the number of Republicans that might have voted to keep her in the race. Democrats would have a much better argument in Texas where it appears the "Rush" voters more than made up the margin of victory for Hillary.

A Special HolyCoast.com ON THE AIR Tonight 7pm PT

Tonight's HolyCoast.com ON THE AIR show will be special as I concentrate on the races in Texas and Ohio on this day before Super Tuesday II. In the first half hour I'll have special guest Mark Daniels, a blogger friend who I met at GodBlogCon 1 in 2005. Mark is a pastor in Ohio and is also a political junkie who will give us his insights into the Ohio race, along with some observations about how Christians should respond to the election.

In the second half hour we'll look at politics at the local level in Aransas County, TX as I interview Sheriff Mark Gilliam on the eve of his primary as he runs for a third term. Mark will talk about his first two terms as Sheriff and will comment on another important race in his area - the 14th Congressional District where Ron Paul is running for reelection against a tough opponent.

Tune in at 7pm PT (better yet, tune in a few minutes early) by clicking on the icon above, and you'll also be given a number you can use if you wish to call in and participate in the show. It should be fun.

The Rumble and the Fumble

I didn't have the joy of watching the Ohio Dem debate so I can't give a first-hand account, but Jim Geraghty did (poor guy) and he usually has a pretty good handle on these things:

My Very Counterintuitive Take on the Debate

I am pretty sure that the pundits will conclude this was a TKO for Obama, that Hillary embarrassed herself, that Obama slammed her for essentially agreeing with McCain on Iraq for years, etc... The conventional wisdom coming out of this debate will be that Hillary Clinton is a (Metaphorically) Dead Woman Walking.

I'm not so sure. Tonight, with her back against the wall, Hillary was more obviously passionate and driven than we've seen her in many debates. I think there's something to the reader comment of earlier - that the crying Hillary or robotic-cackling Hillary seem inauthentic and forced; but when we see her tearing into an opponent, nobody doubts that what we're seeing is the real her. It's tough, it's going for the jugular, it demonstrates that she's a fighter. Obama has been floating on a cloud since Iowa, but he won't be able to do that in the general election; he's got too many far-left votes and positions for McCain to spotlight.

Democratic voters who were paying attention learned that Obama may break his word on public financing and spending limits, that he's ranked the most liberal senator, that he didn't have much to say about Putin's successor, and is supported by Louis Farrakhan (even though Obama rejected him). Maybe Democratic voters in Ohio and Texas will smell vulnerability in all of that.

Then again, maybe not. Hillary Clinton, by comparison, talks to Democrats about the world as it is. Barack Obama talks to Democrats about the world as they would like it to be.

If Hillary was actually "tearing into" Obama, I doubt that helped her with the voters since it just reenforces what every man alive already thinks of Hillary. She's your first three ex-wives all wrapped up into one.

We'll see if the polls move one way or the other.

Good Questions for the Ohio Debate

Ohio native Mark Daniels (who will be my guest on next Monday nights HolyCoast.com ON THE AIR show at 7pm PT) has written 23 questions that should be asked of the candidates in tonight's Ohio debate. They're better than what the candidates are likely to get from the debate moderators. Check them out and then compare to what the moderators actually ask Clinton and Obama. I'm sure the comparison will be interesting (maybe Mark will follow-up with his own comparison).

The Ohio Firewall is Crumbling

Bob Novak reports that the formerly confident Ohio governor and Hillary supporter Ted Strickland is fearing that the state, where Hillary has enjoyed large leads, may not hold for Mrs. Clinton:

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- After Sen. Barack Obama's decisive victory over Sen. Hillary Clinton in Wisconsin, Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland was reported expressing doubt to political colleagues about whether he could hold his state for Clinton during the two weeks remaining before Ohio's Democratic presidential primary March 4.

Polls taken before Wisconsin voted gave Clinton a double-digit lead in Ohio, a state necessary to sustain her presidential hopes. A Clinton win there also may be needed for Strickland's chances to be the vice presidential running mate for either Clinton or Obama.

Prospects for Strickland, a former member of Congress elected as governor in a 2006 landslide, are based on presuming he would help carry pivotal state Ohio for the Democrats. But that argument would be undermined if he cannot deliver for Clinton in the primary.

Bob apparently didn't watch Fox News Sunday last week when Gov. Strickland was asked point blank by Chris Wallace if he would accept the Vice Presidential nomination and stated quite emphatically that he would not. I played the clip on the radio show last Monday. That doesn't mean he won't change his mind, but if he does, that clip will be played back to him over and over.

With the race closing in both states, even if Clinton wins Texas and Ohio the wins will probably be by small margins which means she'll still be well behind in the delegate race. In fact, in Texas she would win and actually end up with fewer delegates than Obama thanks to their screwy rules, thus dropping her even further behind.

The question now is this: When will she get out? Will she bail after a poorer than planned showing on March 4th? Will she keep trodding along through the April 22nd Pennsylvania primary? Will she push toward the convention and hope the superdelegates make the difference?

America wants to know.