A number of workers conspicuously avoided the candidate, walking through a muddy area to enter the plant. One worker was pulled along by the crowd and ended up shaking Senator Clinton’s hand. “Aw, man,” he said. “Now I have to go home and wash my hands.” He declined to give his name.
I've said in recent conversations that I'm pretty wary of the open primary system. People on both sides are able to mess with the other sides nomination process by declaring themselves other than the party they are affiliated with or simply pick up the ballot from the other party. In Ohio, given that McCain is the agreed upon, if not certified nominee, there is not much for Republicans to do. But wait. What if a Republican is very much the Hillary hater? Well he (or she) can pick up a Democratic party ballot and help sink her in the primary there. It's all legal too.
I grew more concerned about this possibility when I saw the Wisconsin results where about 40% of the ballots counted were from people who were not registered democrats. Those people broke heavily for Obama which helps him in his unity campaign theme. However; as the quote above shows, it is entirely possible that a great deal of these votes are really anti-Hillary votes, especially among men who break for Obama by wide margins.
Some national polls have McCain beating both Obama and Clinton in a head to head vote which if it holds up ought to make the DNC seriously consider closing their primaries 'cause like I like to say: there's only one man in the house and one woman in the house. Anybody else don't like the rules they are free to leave.
