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"FacebookPinterest\n\nThere was no more over-investigated pseudotrend of the 2012 primaries than Operation Hilarity. When Daily Kos began encouraging progressives to cross party lines and vote for Santorum in open primaries ahead of the Michigan contest, everyone went looking for them (including me). Alas, when Michigan primary results came back it appeared Operation Hilarity had done very little to upset the primary race. Still, this caught my eye today in a PPP poll about the race in Wisconsin.\n\nThe only thing keeping Santorum competitive in Wisconsin is the state's open primary. He actually trails Romney 50-36 with Republican voters but 40% of those saying they're likely to vote are either independents or Democrats and with those folks Santorum leads 37-32, making it more competitive overall. If those non-Republicans don't actually end up turning out Romney can expect to win by a wider margin.\n\nA huge number of non-registered Republicans supporting Santorum\u2014could it be that Operation Hilarity is alive and well?\n\n No, it's probably not that, PPP director Tom Jenson tells me. \"I don't think a lot of it is Operation Hilarity. Even though such a high percent of it is independent and Democrats only three percent were actually Democrats,\" he says. Santorum was up 28 points among the Democrats, so there are some trace elements of the Machiavellian movement out there, but most of those voters weren't affiliated with either party. \"It's mostly independent voters who sincerely support Santorum. I looked at non-Republicans supporting Santorum his favorability rating is 78 percent. Most of those non-Republicans voting for Santorum really do like him. It's not just people playing around.\"\n\nIt turns out that Rick Santorum does have independent supporters. But they're not like the indie voters you see in other states. Political affiliation is loose in Wisconsin because party registration isn't required, so a lot of people say they're independents when asked to give a political identity. Santorum's independents could be voters who don't identify with the party because it isn't conservative enough.\n\nRead more on Death Race 2012\n\n\"No Politics (In the Champagne Room): Walter Kirn Talks to Strippers About Mitt Romney\" \n\nGQ Quiz: Who Said It\u2014Newt Gingrich or Stephen Colbert?\n\n\"Take It From Me: Defending Obamacare is Super-Hard\"\n\n\"Where Would The Black Keys Take Michele Bachmann on a Date?\""^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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