10% of Michigan Voters Were Democrats, Half Voted for Santorum

|| 1 in 10 voters in the Michigan Republican presidential primary were Democrats. ||

Operation Chaos.

One in ten voters in Michigan’s Republican presidential primary were actually Democrats and half of them voted for Rick Santorum.

Initial exit polling in the Michigan primary suggests that in a tight battle between Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum, the votes of Democrats could prove decisive in the key Republican presidential skirmish — and more of those votes are going to Santorum.

According to CNN, 10% of those who voted in the primary identified themselves as Democrats, representing a larger share of the electorate than in the 2008 vote. Of that group, 50% said they voted for Santorum, 19% for Ron Paul and 15% for Romney, exit polling showed.

The spin from these numbers is going to be very interesting.  Rick Santorum is going to say that even though he lost Michigan, these numbers show he had more crossover appeal in a swing state.  A fact that makes him better suited to win the November general election.

Mitt Romney’s campaign is going to argue the exact opposite.  They’ll say that the numbers were a result of a Rush Limbaugh like “operation chaos.”  Democrats were not voting for Santorum because they want him to be president, liberal gleefully cast their vote for the former Pennsylvania Senator because they believe he’s a candidate that would be easily defeated by President Obama in November.

Winning the debate over what it all means might be a deciding factor in who wins Ohio.