Obama Camp Credits ‘Operation Chaos’ for Clinton Lead in Indiana
Barack Obama’s campaign issued an e-mail on Tuesday night that appeared to relegate Hillary Clinton’s lead in Indiana to efforts by Rush Limbaugh to wreak havoc in the Democratic presidential primary contest.
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.”
“The Limbaugh Effect” referred to “Operation Chaos,” which the conservative radio talk show host launched early in the primary season to create “balance” in the 2008 primary contest after he said liberal influences helped John McCain emerge as the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.
Limbaugh has said his scheme to tilt the Democratic primary exceeded his expectations.
“I see the Obama campaign is saying Operation Chaos accounted for a 7-point bump for Hillary in Indiana. I think they are just jealous that I out-organized them,” Limbaugh told FOX News Tuesday night. “I am extremely proud of Operation Chaos volunteers. I never doubted they would triumph and it is a delight to see.”
Clinton was leading in Indiana by 4 percentage points with a few counties outstanding. Speaking from North Carolina Tuesday night, Obama credited Clinton for “what appears to be her victory in the state of Indiana.”
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.
Twenty-three percent of Indiana voters called themselves independents or non-affiliated, and 47 percent said they supported Clinton compared to 53 percent for Obama. Democrats made up 66 percent of voters, and 53 percent voted for Clinton compared to 47 percent for Obama, the exit poll respondents said.
The exit polls showed that in a hypothetical Clinton-McCain matchup, 73 percent of those who voted in the Democratic race said they’d vote for Clinton, compared to 69 percent who said they would choose Obama if he is McCain’s opponent.
However, of the 19 percent of voters who said they would choose McCain against Obama if that were the general election matchup, only 12 percent voted for Obama in the primary.
It just shows how desperate and bitter Rush and his followers are. They’re losing in the House. They’re losing in the Senate. They’re losing govenors. They’re going to lose the White House. All they have is their hatred for the majority of Americans who do do not agree with. Rush and his followers have become a mean spirited fringe force only capable of chaos and not capable of anything productive for America.
You are given Limbaugh too much credit for this!!
It looks as if Hillary is being played. I could of sworn she was a democratic politician.
Why do I get the feeling that Obama wishes his name were Robert Mugabe or Idi Amin? Then he could more than just whine about Rush Limbaugh. This guy’s politics are left of Lenin, and you can bet if America is crazy enough to elect him president- and America IS well stocked with crazy- his idea of freedom of speech will be freedom for the Left only.
Who else could make Hillary Clinton look like a wise choice? God help us!
The wife & I are staunch Republicans, but we elected to vote for Obama in West Lafayette (Purduetown). No problems with our photo IDs… You have probably seen people standing on sidewalks holding furniture store going out of business sale signs. Hillary appears to have cornered the marked for their services & they were standing on EVERY busy street corner. If they weren’t dedicated volunteers, Hillary must have spent a fortune to eek out a squeeker in Indiana. Any effect they had wasn’t obvious as she lost Tippecanoe county, home to Purdue & it’s liberal professors & students by 5,059 votes. She got 11,945 to his 17,004.
Obama has only himself to blame because of the company he keeps. It is incomprehensable that this guy could even be considered as a presidential candidate.
well, since it looks like obama is getting what he wants but the nation does not need, I guess I too will be voting for mccain. I never thought I would vote republican, but since hearing the news today about Iran, I don’t think it is a good time for someone like Obama to try to do more speeches. I am not for war…not at all, but we have to be ready, and Obama IS NOT!!!!!!
re: Hillary.
Today I see she LOANED her campaign $6.4 million. Interesting! If she donated it, the campaign would not be obliged to pay her back. She asks everybody else to DONATE non-deductible contributions; yet she herself wants the $6.4 paid back at some time. If her campaign goes bankrupt, she of course won’t be paid back. However, by making her $6.4 mil a LOAN; she would then DEDUCT the loss as a bad debt, saving by my calculation 45% tax rate times $6.4 mil = $2.88 million tax saving. Why isn’t she willing to DONATE to her own cause when she is the one who will get the benefit of winning? She talks about oil companies deductions……….lets talk about hers. Doesn’t it seem the Clintons are in love with the concept of OTHER people picking up the tab for what they want?
I thank Rush for putting together is Operation Chaos! I just wish that some of the die hard Clinton supporters would read into Operation Chaos and see that she is really not the winning—she is allowing the Republicans to make a fool of her. I hope all Democrats read about Operation Chaos and wise up and get behind Obama—the sooner we do the better–I do not want a 3rd Bush Term.
Dittos Rush… Another excellent job…