Mercy! Mercy! That Dang Nabed PERCY!

Hope isn't worth what it once was.

For those who have not turned off the TV and are still drawn, as a fly to the flame, by the media coverage of the National Primaries... pay attention to the crossover vote.

As mentioned in an earlier blog, the Democrats are in a bind. Bengazi is not going away and the FBI will be making a recommendation to the Justice Department, one of these days, on the private server scandal. It was announced today that all but 7% of the State Department emails have been released. Hmmmm. Ms. Clinton is operating under a cloud, like that Lil Abner cartoon character of old. Everywhere she goes, it follows, casting its pall.

While there are many who will vote for her, regardless of what comes out, there are also many Democrats who will not. This is being evidenced in the crossover vote.

If a Democrat can' t abide either of their party candidates, some are likely to vote for a Republican, despite the bitter pill. Evidence of this showed itself in South Carolina last week in the Republican Primary. There was a sizable percentage of crossovers. Look closely at this statistic in the upcoming primaries. A low turnout, for either party, shows the base is not energized or the vote is going somewhere else. If the crossover trend continues it is not a good sign for the Democrats. Come November, if a Democrat can't abide Mrs Clinton or Mr. Sanders, they face the unenviable choice of either staying home or voting Republican.

In the past there has been this myth, that Democrats, fear Rubio over the other Republican candidates and believe he is the most electable. This is nonsense. If we compare the Republican candidates to foodstuffs, we can characterize Rubio as a marshmallow, Cruz as a jelly donut and Trump as a hot potato. Trump, for all his warts, might not be the most delectable but he is the most electable.

This is where trying to gauge the crossover vote is worthwhile. A crossover creates a two vote spread in a general election. A vote is deducted from one party and added to the column of the other. In Nevada the voting history was something like a 44% Republican turnout in the election before last, 33% in the last election and 76% last week. Where did all these additional votes come from? It could be they were from Independents, new voters, or an energized base, but a substantial number must have come from crossovers.

This is what is going to plague the Democrats in the next election. All Democrats are not representative of the crowd that dissed the Marine war veteran at the Clinton rally yesterday. There is a deep undercurrent of RAGE swirling about and Trump should win in November by a landslide. When the choice boils down to the "Great Prevaricator" a "Closet Communist" or "The Trumpster," who do you think will win?

All we can "hope" for is that the precocious rich kid, who never outgrew his temper tantrums, will become another Reagan... then again, hope isn't worth what it once was.