By Alexander Mooney
CNN
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- He has publicly urged Republicans to vote for Sen.
Hillary Clinton to keep the divisive Democratic nomination fight
alive, but talk radio host Rush Limbaugh said Wednesday he really
wants Sen. Barack Obama to be the party's nominee.
Rush Limbaugh urged listeners in states with open primaries to cross
party lines and support Hillary Clinton.
"I now believe he would be the weakest of the Democrat nominees,"
Limbaugh, among the most powerful voices in conservative radio, said
on his program. "I now urge the Democrat superdelegates to make your
mind up and publicly go for Obama."
"Barack Obama has shown he cannot get the votes Democrats need to win
-- blue-collar, working-class people," Limbaugh said. "He can get
effete snobs, he can get wealthy academics, he can get the young, and
he can get the black vote, but Democrats do not win with that."
But Jamal Simmons, a Democratic strategist and Obama supporter,
disagreed, saying the Democratic Party has "the best coalition to go
out and talk to people across racial lines, which are the unions."
If Obama wins the nomination, he said, support from unions should help
him gain support among blue-collar workers when "they don't have to
choose between two Democrats."
Among the Democratic candidates, Clinton has had the advantage with
working-class and middle-income voters, though Obama has increased his
support in that demographic, according to exit polls.
In the March 4 Ohio primary, Clinton won voters who made under $50,000
by 14 points. In the April 22 Pennsylvania primary, that advantage was
down to 8 points. And in the Indiana primary, exit polls showed the
two candidates evenly split among those voters.
For months, Limbaugh urged his listeners in states with open primaries
to cross party lines and support Clinton in an effort he has dubbed
"Operation Chaos."
The conservative talk show host has said the Republican Party will
benefit from a protracted Democratic race that grows more bruising by
the week.
It remains unclear how much influence Limbaugh has actually wielded.
The Obama campaign estimates 7 percent of Clinton's vote in Indiana
could be attributed to crossover Republicans.
According to Indiana exit polls, Clinton did win the Republican vote
by 8 percentage points, but those voters made up only 10 percent of
the electorate. Watch an analysis of Tuesday's primaries =BB
Sen. John Kerry -- an Obama supporter -- credited Clinton's win
entirely to Limbaugh.
"Rush Limbaugh was tampering with the primary," he said on a
conference call with reporters. "If it was not for Republicans taking
Democratic ballots, [Obama] would have won."
But CNN senior political analyst Bill Schneider disagrees.
"There is a slightly measurable Rush Limbaugh effect, but it is not
the reason she won Indiana," he said. "She dominated the Democratic
vote, and two-thirds of the voters were Democratic."
Self-identified Republicans voting in previous Democratic primaries
have been more evenly split between Clinton and Obama.
In Ohio, the GOP vote broke evenly, with Clinton and Obama winning 49
percent each. And in Texas, Obama won the Republican vote by 7 points.
On his show Wednesday, Limbaugh declared "Operation Chaos" a success.
"We have done our part to expose Obama through our support of
'Operation Chaos,' effectively using the Clinton campaign as our foil,
and Obama and the Democrat Party are the weaker for it," he said.
"Every objective has been met and surpassed."
But has Limbaugh successfully advantage the Republicans heading into
November? Republican strategist and CNN contributor Rich Galen says
yes.
"As this thing grinds down to the last three and a half weeks, I think
keeping this going between the two sides may well have some
significant impact as we move down toward the fall campaign," he said.
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