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Operation Chaos and Dem Defections

The premise of Rush Limbaugh’s much criticized Operation Chaos is that prolonging the Democratic primary battle helps the GOP. Is it working? Consider a Gallup poll that reports:

A sizable proportion of Democrats would vote for John McCain next November if he is matched against the candidate they do not support for the Democratic nomination. This is particularly true for Hillary Clinton supporters, more than a quarter of whom currently say they would vote for McCain if Barack Obama is the Democratic nominee. ...

As would be expected, almost all Democratic voters who say they support Obama for their party’s nomination also say they would vote for him in a general election matchup against McCain. But only 59% of Democratic voters who support Clinton say they would vote for Obama against McCain, while 28% say they would vote for the Republican McCain. This suggests that some Clinton supporters are so strongly opposed to Obama (or so loyal to Clinton) that they would go so far as to vote for the “other” party’s candidate next November if Obama is the Democratic nominee.

What is motivating these Democrats? Why is McCain their second choice? Granted, John McCain long has been many (most?) Democrats’ favorite Republican, but one would think that real Democratic Party loyalists would prefer any Democrat to any Republican, even John McCain. One can only assume that the premise behind Operation Chaos was correct and that the longer Obama and Clinton continued to battle the angrier some pockets of their supporters become with the other side. Of course, it is a very long way to November. It is entirely possible that the Democrats will come together after they finally settle on a candidate, especially if they have a successful convention. (Of course, one still hears grumbling in some parts of the Democratic net roots that their convention this summer ought to look a lot like Chicago 1968, which would be all the good.)

It is interesting, however, that at this point the Republicans seem to pull together—albeit somewhat begrudgingly—behind McCain, while it’s the Democrats that are so sharply divided. Six months ago the conventional wisdom assumed it would be the other way around.