Americans Away From Home

I was admiring some lovely yellow roses that had reached just that point of being open and full. A friend commented, "Not such a proud yellow rose of Texas today?" on the way past the flowers, adding, "Maybe it's a Republican rose and crossed over."

Is that a joke?

Both Texas and Ohio had crossover primaries Tuesday, where Republicans are allowed to vote in Democrats' primaries. Exit polls didn't seem to show significant numbers of Republicans voting for Democrats.

That's exit polls; I have my instincts.

My instincts tell me Republicans wouldn't necessarily fess up in exit polls: "Hello, I'm a Republican and I voted to cause trouble," doesn't work for me.

With Karl Rove busy on Fox, who'd coordinate it? If Republicans viewed Hillary as easier to beat in November, who'd galvanize crossover voters?

Why does it have to be coordinated? Any Republican who could read might have just decided to skew the vote a little. If you voted strategically, would you tell people asking questions on the way out what you'd done?

McCain had it wrapped before yesterday; it just got formalized when the right number was reached. So if you really want your candidate to win, why not use your primary vote this way?

News reports discount this. It's my theory and I'm sticking to it.

Why would a political party allow the opposition to vote to select their candidate? What value's gained by calling a primary "open"?

Yellow roses recalled Texas, triggering thoughts, but Ohio let the other party vote too. If only Democrats voted, might results have been substantially different? We'll never know.

Carole