Poll: Obama Got 12% of GOP Crossover Votes, McCain Got Zero Dem Crossover
Here’s potentially a bit of good news for November, unless John McCain can rally his party and call these stragglers home:
About 3 million of the 35 million votes for Democrats this year were cast by Republicans.
About 12 percent of Obama’s aggregate vote in presidential primaries came from people who normally align themselves with the GOP, based on a survey of 1,003 adults conducted by Scripps Howard News Service and Ohio University.
About 5 percent of New York Sen. Hillary Clinton’s support came from Republicans.
The poll also found that Arizona Sen. John McCain, who won the Republican nomination in the early months of the primary season, received virtually no Democratic crossover votes.
What is unknown is how much of the Republican crossover was mischief-making:
“McCain didn’t need my vote since he already had the nomination locked up,” explained life-long Republican voter Jerry Maisel, 64, of Plano, Texas. “So I thought that this was my chance to be a spoiler with the Democrats. Barack Obama is the first Democrat I’ve ever voted for in a presidential race. Can’t say I enjoyed the experience.
…Other Republicans came to an opposite conclusion.
“I voted for Clinton because she’s a little less dangerous than Obama. He’s 180 degrees from what he pretends to be,” said Dan Curtin, 58, of Marblehead, Mass.”
About 3 million of the 35 million votes for Democrats this year were cast by Republicans, according to the study. This backs up Trish’s article that “Obama Republicans” may be a trend this year.
