Some pundits are calling them the HillPublicans. They are hardcore Republicans who are going against their previous political beliefs and voting for Democratic presidential hopeful Senator Hillary Clinton.
In one of the most surprising twists of the Democratic nomination race, the emergence of the HillPublicans now has many observers poring over poll data and wondering what is going on.
One answer can be found on hugely influential conservative talk radio networks. A number of right-wing talk show hosts have recently been urging their solidly Republican listeners to go out and vote in the Democratic race and cast in their lot with Clinton in order to try to sabotage the Democratic Party race.
Their logic is simple enough. With the Republican nomination sewn up by Senator John McCain, their aim is to prolong the fierce battle between Clinton and Senator Barack Obama. Their hope is for a lengthy blood-letting between the two bitter rivals that will damage whoever wins the fight and leave them weakened when they go up against McCain.
Top right-wing "shock jock" Rush Limbaugh has been leading the charge.
"We want all the disruption in that party possible. It is about us winning," Limbaugh told his listeners recently.
He has admitted that it is a tough task to persuade his fans to vote for a candidate that he has built a whole political career around viciously attacking.
"I've got a big challenge here to try to get Republicans to change their minds on this and vote for Hillary to keep her in the race, to keep that party at war with itself," he said.
The exact impact of the HillPublicans and the "Limbaugh effect" is hard to define in recent races and the contests still to come. They can only have an effect in elections that are "open" -- where Republicans can opt to go and vote in the Democratic race and eschew their vote in the Republican ballot.
But in recent key Clinton victories in Ohio and Texas some Republican commentators have hailed the strategy as a success. In those states exit polls showed that around 9 percent of voters were Republicans. That number is roughly twice as large as in most previous contests. They were also split almost evenly, although Clinton has traditionally had a more difficult time appealing to such crossover voters than Obama. Therefore the 50-50 divide may show the Limbaugh effect in action.
If so, actions of the HillPublicans could have greatly helped Clinton. Her stunning comeback victories in Texas and Ohio saved her political life as her candidacy had seemingly been on the brink of political extinction.
Clinton's camp has dismissed the phenomenon. It claims that the large numbers of Republicans voting for Clinton -- and also for Obama -- show the party's crossover appeal and also reveal an electorate deeply dissatisfied with Republican rule in the White House.
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