Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Matt Yglesias Says Rush Really Helped Clinton

Matt Yglesias says Rush really helped Clinton. Sheesh.. first she gives love to McCain, (prompting Rachel Maddow to say she should be McCain's VP) and now evidence emerges, from none other than the gifted Yglesias, that Rush Limbaugh came to her rescue.





I dismissed Rush Limbaugh's efforts to get conservatives to go vote for Hillary Clinton in order to make things easier for John McCain. Markos' efforts to do something similar on Mitt Romey's behalf didn't achieve anything. And, after all, why should it work -- the motive for voting is mostly expressive, so people are disinclined to do this kind of thing. But Dave Weigel rounds up some evidence that the Rush effect was real and put Clinton over the top in Texas.

And, of course, it worked. Clinton still won't win the nomination -- after Mississippi and Wyoming she'll be further behind in the delegate count than ever with fewer than ever delegates still up for grabs -- but for another couple of months McCain will have a high-profile anti-Obama surrogate in the field telling people the likely nominee is unfit for executive leadership.