Pennsylvania afterglow

Ah, time for conservatives to lay back, relax, light up a cigarette, and enjoy the bliss. "Operation Chaos" has scored, bigtime. That's right, Democrats. You've just been screwed.

Forget all the spin from the talking heads on TV. As I explain over at The American Spectator blog, there is only one man in America powerful enough to have made this happen:

It can scarcely be denied that Rush Limbaugh's Operation Chaos helped build Hillary's 10-point margin in Pennsylvania. More than 160,000 Republican voters switched their registration to Democrat in advance of Tuesday's primary, and undoubtedly many of those were hard-core Dittoheads who did just what Limbaugh has been suggesting for weeks: Vote for Hillary, in order to produce a deadlock in the Democratic presidential nomination fight.

Be sure to read the whole thing, since I have a hunch what Rush is going to do next. He's bitter, you know.

After a grueling six-week campaign in Pennsylvania, Hillary Clinton just beat Barack Obama by double digits -- as of 12:30 a.m., it was 55% to 45% with 98% of precincts reporting, according to CNN.

Hillary can now claim momentum. "The tide is turning," as she said in her victory speech Tuesday night.

Now, my dear progressive friends, the MSM will spend the next week amplifying and echoing Hillary's claim that her big win in Pennsylvania means "the tide is turning" in her favor. You're going to hear this claim parroted, in one form or another, all the way to Sunday, when Tim Russert, George Stephanopoulos, and Wolf Blitzer do their hourlong shows, which will then be digested and regurgitated for Monday's newspapers.

So we're looking at a solid week, at least, of talk about Hillary's big comeback to help sway those undecided primary voters in North Carolina and Indiana.

Can you say "bandwagon effect"? Better yet, can you say ... quagmire?

UPDATE: She sent me a thank-you e-mail:

Dear Robert,
Thanks to you, we won a critically important victory tonight in Pennsylvania. It's a giant step forward that will transform the landscape of the presidential race. And it couldn't have happened without you. There will be much more to do beginning tomorrow. But tonight, let's just celebrate the fact that you and I are part of a remarkable community of people tough enough, passionate enough, and determined enough to win big when everything is on the line. Thanks so much for all you do.

Sincerely,





Hillary Rodham Clinton

"Tonight, let's ... celebrate ... you and I are ... passionate." Such a minx, and so subtle ...

UPDATE II: Scott McConnell is not a Rush fan -- Scott is really bitter -- but even he has noticed the success of Operation Chaos.

If anyone doubts that "Operation Chaos" was a real factor in Tuesday's result, check out Rush's interview with one of the troops, "doing the Lord's work" in Exton, Pa.

Republican operatives, afraid that publicity could doom Limbaugh's plan, deny it is having an impact:

RUSH: We'll start with Fox & Friends on the Fox News Channel this morning. The cohost Gretchen Carlson had this exchange with McCain campaign New York state chairman Ed Cox about Operation Chaos. (AUDIO:)
CARLSON: We want to talk to you about Operation Chaos, because Rush Limbaugh has been advocating his listeners to go out and register Democrat and vote for Hillary Clinton in the Pennsylvania primary, just to keep the whole chaos going on the Democratic side. Ed, your thoughts on that.
COX: Well, I -- I don't think that's going to have that much of an impact in the end, uhhh, but -- especially with this kind of a large turnout.

Ah, the old "plausible deniability," you see?

UPDATE III: I'm amused by how many pundits -- Marc Armbinder, for one -- still seem to be stuck in the Conventional Wisdom mode of thinking Obama's got the nomination locked up and that Hillary is toast. This is clearly a situation in which Conventional Wisdom is worse than useless, but is indeed a hindrance to comprehending the genuine weirdness of the political reality.