Ohio Primary Surprises

I live in southern Ohio, so yesterday was our day in the presidential primary spotlight.
Some things were predictable (McCain won; Huckabee dropped out).
Some things, however, were extremely unpredictable (Hill took Ohio- and got twice as many votes than McCain; huge Democratic turnout).

It's the unpredictable stuff I'm interested in tonight.
Last week Rush Limbaugh called upon Republicans to throw their primary vote to Hillary in a very "Survivor"-like tactic- get rid of the one you fear the most in favor of the one you think you can beat. Rush's explanation is that it will keep the Democrats in a state of flux for a while longer, allowing the Republicans to unify behind McCain. Considering how similar Hill and Obama are, I really don't see that as much of a benefit. Choosing your opponent, however... yeah- that's a huge benefit.

So there I was yesterday morning, at the polling center. I was asked if I wanted the Republican or Democratic ballot. I was SO tempted to say "Democrat" just so that I could influence McCain's opponent selection. In the end, I decided that voting FOR something/someone was more important than voting AGAINST someone, so I went Republican. (GO JEAN SCHMIDT!!! You can beat the pants off of that human medical experiment approving, anti-war beyotch Victoria Wulsin!!)

Southern Ohio was settled by German immigrants, and later, southern immigrants, giving us a conservative slant historically speaking. Northern Ohio was settled by more liberal New Englanders who pushed westward, only to stop in what later became Ohio. As such, southern Ohio has a LOT more registered Republicans than Democrats. So imagine my surprise as everyone who came in to vote while I was there asked for a DEMOCRATIC ballot! It was pretty surprising. I don't ever remember being so outnumbered in previous years.

My county's Board of Elections ordered twice as many Democratic ballots than they needed according to the number of registered Democrats, but THEY RAN OUT. Yep. RAN OUT of ballots! There were plenty of Republican ballots, but there was a sizeable shortage of Democratic ballots in Clermont County and other counties around the state. The cited reason was cross-over votes (registered Republicans asking for a Democratic ballot).

We may never know for sure if those cross-over voters were purposely voting for Hill or Obama, or if they were strategizing and picking McCain's opposition in the final race, but my gues is the opposition vote. I don't know any Republicans who are throwing their support to Hill or Obama, but I do know of some who are voting against McCain. Perhaps there is a cell out there trying to actually help the Dem's chose their final candidate. Interesting theory, eh?