Rush Limbaugh Blamed for Obama Loss in Indiana

Posted By: Carolyn Hileman - The Voice* on May 7, 2008

Hillary Clinton eked out a narrow victory over Barack Obama in the Indiana Democratic primary, but top Obama aides say Obama would have won if it were not for conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh.

David Axelrod, Obama’s top strategist, told reporters that he attributed Clinton’s lead in Indiana to Limbaugh’s “Operation Chaos” — his campaign to have Republicans cross over and vote for Clinton to prolong the nomination fight and damage the Democratic nominee.

Exit polls appear to back up Axelrod’s claims. Results of the Indiana exit poll found that that 17 percent of primary voters said they would vote for Republican John McCain over Clinton in the general election. And 41 percent of those voters still cast a vote for Hillary in the primary, according to the Baltimore Sun.

Citing these figures, the Obama campaign sent an e-mail to reporters Tuesday night asserting that 7 percent of the votes in Indiana could be attributed to the “Limbaugh effect.”

Clinton won the primary by about two percentage points — 23,000 votes out of 1.2 million cast.

Indiana’s primary was open to Republicans and independents as well as Democrats. In North Carolina, where registered Republicans could not vote in the Democratic primary, Obama won handily on Tuesday, 56 percent to 42 percent.

As the polls were closing in Indiana on Tuesday night, the Indianapolis Star reported that it appeared droves of “hardcore” Republicans were crossing over to vote in the Democratic primary in several GOP strongholds.

John K. Wilson wrote on The Huffington Post that the “Limbaugh effect” “easily provided enough votes to give Clinton her 23,000-vote margin of victory in Indiana.”

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