The Drug Dealer Effect

I know why Obama's camp is doing doing this, I'm just not sure I agree with it.

In an e-mail entitled “The Limbaugh Effect in Indiana = 7 percent,” Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton wrote: “According to the latest exit polling data, 17 percent of voters in the Indiana primary today said they would vote for John McCain in a Clinton/McCain match-up. Forty-one percent of that number is constituted by people who voted Clinton in the primary but also indicated they will vote for McCain in the general election. That comes out to just under 7 percent of the primary electorate the number that may be attributed to a Limbaugh Effect.”

I think it gives way too much credit, if credit is even the right word, to the drug-addicted Rush Limbaugh. I see the Obama camp spin that they are wanting to show: that Hillary is so desperate to win the nomination that she would even make friends with the likes of Rush Limbaugh and use his hate speech tactics to garner primary victories. From a strategy perspective I see the point. From a Democratic perspective it's pointless and irresponsible. At least if you are going to relate Hillary to Limbaugh, which is entirely ethical to do, do it in a way as not to legitimize a convicted drug dealer, chickenhawk draft dodging, fat ass who has never done anything good for America.

Even the Fox News article I link to calls into question the validity of such an assertion that druggie had any effect on the race whatsoever.

The impact of “Operation Chaos” is difficult to measure. Indiana holds an open primary, and according to FOX News exit polls, 11 percent of voters in the Democratic contest were Republicans. Fifty-three percent of them said they chose Clinton, while 47 percent voted for Obama.

The only accurate way to draw such a conclusion would be if the polling asked if the voter was persuaded by Rush Limbaugh's advice to vote for Hillary. Since such a question was not asked, there is no way of definitively stating that druggie had any effect at all. Like I said, I see what Obama's trying to do, I just don't think it's necessary.