Until now, Shirley Morgan had always been the kind of voter the Republican Party thought it could count on. She comes from a family of staunch Republicans, has a son in the military and has supported Republican presidential candidates ever since she cast her first ballot, for Richard M. Nixon in 1972.
Darlene Boatman, a Republican, will vote in the Democratic primary, too: “Much as I like John McCain as a war hero, I am fearful he does not have the depth of experience to fix the economy."
But this year Mrs. Morgan exemplifies a different breed: the Republican crossing over to vote in the Democratic primary. Not only will she mark her ballot for Senator Barack Obama in the May 6 primary here, but she has also been canvassing for him in the heavily Republican suburbs of Hamilton County, just north of Indianapolis — the first time she has ever actively campaigned for a candidate.
After the primaries in Texas, Democratic leaders in this central west county expressed some surprise by the numbers of crossover Republican voters. Voters in both parties may cross over and vote in the other party's primary in this and a number of other states. Yes, some of it could be accounted for by Rush Limbaugh's urgent plea to listeners that they help create "chaos" in the Democratic campaign for the nomination. It wasn't hard to spot them: they boasted about what they were doing to poll workers and to friends in the polling place. They made sure their action was noted in exit polls.
But the county party chairman reported with glee that a good number of Republicans in this heavily Republican county were not only voting for Obama but signaling their intention to switch parties.
Voters in Indiana are following the same route, according to a report in the New York Times.
Since the start of the primary and caucus season in January, Republican voters have been crossing over in increasing numbers to vote in Democratic contests — supplying up to 10 percent of the vote in states that allow such crossover voting — and they are expected to play a pivotal role in the fiercely contested primary here. What is less clear, however, is the motivation for their behavior: are they genuinely attracted by the two Democratic candidates? Or are they mischief-making spoilers, looking to prolong a divisive Democratic fight or support a candidate Mr. McCain can beat in November?
Local Republican Party leaders in Indiana concede the attraction of the Democratic candidates to some of their party members. And interviews with roughly a dozen Republican voters in central Indiana suggest that they are driven mainly by concerns about the economy, with discontent over Bush administration policies driving their involvement in the Democratic race.
Limbaugh's influence may be less widespread than he'd like to believe.
Republican voters interviewed here said that Mr. Limbaugh was not a factor in their decision to vote in the Democratic primary, and that it was the issues that propelled them.
However, Republican crossovers are less reliable than Democrats would like.
Some of the crossover Republicans here who back Mr. Obama said they would vote for Mr. McCain in November if Mrs. Clinton ends up getting the Democratic nomination, while some of those supporting Mrs. Clinton said the same of Mr. Obama.
Still, "... others said they simply could not imagine gravitating back to the Republican camp in this election."
