A recurring theme amongst my conservative colleagues, associates, and friends at CPAC: If you’re a right-leaning guy or gal, and you live in Virginia, who do you vote for on Tuesday? (The Commonwealth is one of those open primary states.)
Some of my righty friends will ask for a Democratic ballot and will vote for Hillary, because they see her as easier to beat in the general election. As one put it to me, “I want to vote against her in the primary, in case I don’t get the chance in the general.”
At least one conservative friend told me he’s going to vote for Obama, because he wants to see the Clintons and Clintonism effectively buried for all time. This guy sees a Democratic party headed by a principled, and seemingly decent liberal like Obama as a better opponent than a Democratic party headed by a craven, opportunistic, corrupt and indecent couple like the Clintons.
And then again, there will be most of the Republican names still on the ballot. Does a righty go in and vote for McCain, to offer a vote of confidence to the (almost certain) nominee, or to register one last vote for their original favorite?
By the way, McCain more or less clinching the nomination is probably bad news for Hillary in an already tough region of the country for her. Any independents who were thinking of voting in the Republican race have one contest that’s settled, and one contest that’s neck-and-neck…