Much of the talk leading up to the 2004 Presidential Election centered around how the internet was being used by then hopeful Howard Dean in raising money.  Ironically, it was a video clip and a sound bite file being shared that brought his campaign back down to Earth.  The nation also witnessed a major bi-product of McCain-Feingold Act.  The 527 groups funded by George Soros literally paid people to spread their displeasure with the Commander-in-Chief across the web throughout the campaign.  As was shown with the exit polling of 2004, however, data and truth do not always go hand in hand.

At this point, I would ask all of the Diebold conspiracy propagators to hold their tongues.  Election officials of the past have cheated by stuffing ballot boxes in Chicago or tossing them out in the Bay, but it's quite another thing to commit widespread election fraud and then cover it up.  Now what is happening in this year's primary elections is taking place quite out in the open and it is not fraud.  In what Rush Limbaugh has dubbed as "Operation Chaos" republicans are voting for Senator Hillary Clinton who trails Senator Barack Obama in the bid for Democrat Party nomination for President.

Why does America's #1 rated radio talk show host want fellow conservatives to vote for a Democrat?  It's quite simple— revenge.  He believes that democrats crossed over to vote for Senator John McCain to give him a victory in New Hampshire and edge out former Governor Mitt Romney.  That gave McCain the initial momentum to secure the Republican Party nomination, so effectively democrats influenced the election.

It is debatable whether Operation Chaos has made a difference in the Democratic Party outcome thus far.  Polling records indicate that Senator Obama received more votes from republicans in Texas.  Still with Senator Clinton winning both Texas and Ohio the race is far from over.  And that is exactly what Rush had in mind.  Some of the adverse effects on the democratic nomination process include increased media scrutiny of both candidates.  For Senator Obama this has meant having to explain his political ties to indicted individuals and more recently his personal beliefs in contrast with what was preached from the pulpit of his church.  Senator Clinton has faced the pressure of having to admit that she lied about being in the line of fire on the trip to Bosnia.  She has also suggested that delegates pledged to Senator Obama could vote for her instead. And this is the party that frequently decries voter disenfranchisement?

Perhaps the least covered aspect of the democratic nomination process is that party has been unable to use the media coverage to their advantage against the future Republican Party nominee.  Both the Democratic Party candidates and their supporters are facing criticism on all sides and it has nothing to do with the issues.  Senator McCain, on the other hand, can point to their lack of experience and integrity.  He can say that Democratic Party candidates do not understand the reality of the threats facing America.

Now in addition to voting for an opposing party candidate, fine upstanding conservatives are answering the call to become state delegates for the Democratic Party.  Rush Limbaugh says that he has his staff working on an encrypted form of communication that can be transmitted via cell phone.  By stringing out the election, there is a small chance that a text message to undercover delegates could promote further confusion.  Wouldn't it be interesting if the Democrats in Congress reauthorized the provisions of the Patriot Act just so the government could monitor activity surrounding the Democratic Party Convention?  To counter traffic analysis, Rush stated plaintext messages with potentially self-incriminating information could be sent to the cell phones of unsuspecting delegates.

With most of the media moguls on their side, it is unlikely that democrat leaders would allow such a scenario.  Recently one of them put forth the idea of having former Vice President Al Gore step in.  I'll repeat the question.  Is this the party that frequently decries voter disenfranchisement? Operation Chaos is in full swing.