How can Hillary be so far ahead in the polls? I think it's Republican respondents.

[Roland99]

In states with open primaries, you will probably see Republicans vote for Hillary instead of for their own candidate.

[liberal N proud]

1. The media keeps putting here there

She is the candidate of choice by the establishment and the media is supporting that.

[liberalmuse]

2. My crazy fundie mother...

voted for Bush twice. LOOOOVES Hillary.

[Roland99]

3. Because she is Bush-lite. DLC-dandy. Pro-war w/Iran. Pro-corporation.

I honestly don't see how she can honestly be a member of the Democratic Party.

[liberalmuse]

5. Probably because the Republican males won't vote for a woman.

That's about it.

[Auggie]

4. She's a celebrity. And people LOVE celebrities.

[Jackpine Radical]

8. That's exactly right, and

the right-wing media machine is capitalizing (no pun intended, of course) on her celebrity status to launch her into the nomination. At that point, it won't matter to the big guys whether she wins or loses--we get a corporatist President either way.

[spooky3]

6. 1) Many Dems are more moderate than DU; 2) They love Bill or

what the country and their lives were like when he was President. They know they are getting two-for-one if she is elected.

There are obviously other factors but I think these are the two biggies.

[Glorfindel]

7. Well, Repukes vote in Democratic primaries in droves

here in darkest Mississippi, it's an election year, and here in the county where I live, 65% who bothered to turn out voted in the Democratic primary. When the general election rolls around, the Repukes will carry the county by at least 65%. It was the same back home in Georgia. The 'pukes stick together, march in lockstep...they don't care who wins their own primary, they only care about nominating a Democrat they can beat. We Democrats act as if we're six or seven different parties, feverishly ripping each other to shreds while the Repukes just quietly smile and carve up the country for their own benefit. I much prefer the caucus system to the primary system, but that's just my humble opinion.

[Jackpine Radical]

10. Hell, we ARE 6 or 7 different parties.

[Glorfindel]

11. Alas, sad but true

If only we could get angrier at the Repukes than we do at each other. ;(

[DemBones DemBones]

15. Yes, that's exactly what I said downthread. We should

be smart and do as they do, re-register Republican before the primaries and vote for the GOP candidate we want to win, i.e., the one we can beat easily.

Those of us in red states really should do this. My vote for Kucinich will mean nothing here since every Republican who votes will re-register as a Dem and vote for Hillary.

Vote for Giuliani?

[Roland99]

21. I used to think open primaries weren't a bad idea. I feel completely different now.

One should only be able to vote for candidates in the party in which the voter is registered.

[NoPasaran]

9. What a brilliantly original theory!

I don't think I've ever read such insightful analysis in my entire life. You, sir, are a genius!

[DemBones DemBones]

14. What a snarky post. You act as if

the same ideas were never discussed more than once here. Oh, wait, you're a Hillary supporter. That explains the snark.

[zulchzulu]

12. In my view, you're seeing Clinton peaking right now

In a couple of months, it's going to be a lot different.

[DemBones DemBones]

13. I think that's a lot of it, although some polls

specify "among Democratic voters," do they actually ask to see your voter registration card to check if you're a registered Democrat? I seriously doubt it since as far as I know all polls are done by phone so they can only take your word for your party affiliation and for who you plan to vote for.

In many states that have separate Democratic and Republican primaries and only allow you to vote for someone in the party you're registered in, voters can change party affiliation before the primary and then switch back later. (Independents are just SOL, can't vote in primaries, in some states.) That means Republicans can "become Democrats" to vote for Hillary in the primaries.

Democrats should organize and do the same thing to get their weakest candidate to win but most of us are probably reluctant to give up the right to vote for our preferred Democrat in the primary. Those of us in red states should seriously consider it, though. My vote for Kucinich in this state will mean nothing so I should vote GOP. Then the question becomes: who is the Republican least likely to win? Giuliani?

[patrice]

16. Answer: Engineering enabled by data-mining. Polls ARE businesses.

Lots of Republicans supporting a Republican light candidate = win:win for them. When given a choice between a real Republican and Republican-light, people will pick the real thing.

But, I guess I must admit there is a question: Is Hillary REALLY Republican light or is she faking them out?

[RaleighNCDUer]

18. She doesn't have the skills to fake them AND us out.

With her, what you see is what you get - and I'm afraid that it IS what we will get.

[illinoisprogressive]

17. Because the washington insider establishment wants her to be

[antigop]

19. Marketing 101: "we often know brands simply because advertisers want us to."

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1653659,00.html

>>
A flurry of new research is shedding light on people's tendency--when presented with a known object and an unknown one--to assign more value to the thing they've heard of, even if they don't know anything else about it. It's easy to imagine the evolutionary roots of a go-with-what-you-know principle--avoiding poisonous plants, say--but these mental shortcuts suit certain modern problems as well. For example, studies have shown that people are able to pick which of two foreign cities is larger or who will win Wimbledon just by employing the assumption that if a name is recognized, it's likely to be more important.

...
. A study published last year looked at how we choose an airline. Researchers at Germany's University of Cologne asked participants to pick between two carriers--one familiar and one unknown. Predictably, an overwhelming number chose the airline they recognized. What was surprising was that many stuck with it even as the researchers gave negative cues about its safety. With three troubling bits of information--like past accidents--67% of study participants remained loyal to the airline they knew.
>>

[Roland99]

20. Yeah, exactly. If we truly had a liberal media, Kucinich, Dodd, Edwards would be touted to no end.

Instead we get the constant whoring by the media of Hillary Hillary Hillary

[Perry Logan]

22. Clearly, the anti-Hillarites will say any damn thing that comes into their heads.

[Roland99]

23. I am anti-corporatist. And she's a huge one.