Operation Chaos

Sometimes Democrats interfere in open GOP primaries. Sometimes Republicans do the same. Rush Limbaugh had great fun urging Republicans to do that during the 2008 primary between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

The purpose is always clear: to hurt the other party. Rush wanted people to vote for Hillary, believing she was the weakest candidate and less likely to win the general election against the Republican nominee.

Many analysts believe that as much as 10% of the vote Haley received in her home state actually came from Democrats voting in the Republican primary. It wouldn’t be surprising because her campaign spent serious money urging non-Republicans to vote in the open GOP primary.

It’s one thing for Rush Limbaugh and other activists to do that. It’s something entirely different for the candidate to do that herself.

Haley wanted Democrats to help pick the nominee of the Republican Party. Not surprisingly, a CNN exit poll found that 74% of Haley voters identified as “moderate” or “liberal.”

Critics of Trump are pointing to the fact that as many as 20% of GOP South Carolina primary voters expressed some hesitation about supporting Trump in November. This is being presented by the media as evidence that Trump doesn’t have his own party locked down.

It’s very likely that Democrats made up the vast majority of that 20%. They weren’t voting in the Republican Party because they liked Haley, but because they wanted to stop Trump.