A spate of news articles on April 27 cover Rush Limbaugh’s recent boasts that he has influenced many Republicans to re-register as Democrats, in order to boost Hillary Clinton’s vote and thereby injure the Democratic Party. Here is an article from the San Francisco Chronicle. Although there is little evidence, the evidence that exists is significant. For example, an exit poll from Pennsylvania showed that 41% of the self-identified Republicans who had registered Democratic to vote in this month’s primary, and who had voted for Hillary Clinton, also said they would not be supportive of her in the general election.

This is a fertile field for political science and journalistic research, and it may influence court decisions when the constitutionality of open primaries is challenged by political parties.

The Constitution Party’s vice-presidential candidate is Darrell Castle, an attorney from Memphis, Tennessee. He won the nomination on the first ballot. The key factor in his victory was that presidential nominee Chuck Baldwin asked the convention to choose Castle. Also, Mary Starrett told the convention that she didn’t want the vice-presidential nomination.

The most significant vice-presidential candidates for the Constitution Party are Law Professor Scott Bradley of Utah (the party’s US Senate candidate in 2006), attorney Darrell Castle of Tennessee, and Mary Starrett of Oregon (the party’s 2006 gubernatorial nominee). Alan Keyes has said he will not seek the vice-presidential nomination. A few other vice-presidential candidates have also announced, but the three with the most support are the three named above. The convention will choose one late Saturday afternoon (April 26).

Past Constitution Party vice-presidential candidates have been: 1992 Albion W. Knight; 1996 Herbert W. Titus; 2000 J. Curtis Frazier; 2004 Chuck Baldwin.