Invaders at the Gate

Yesterday, Howard Wilkinson posted on the alleged support Hillary Clinton has among Republicans, on the theory that she'll be easier to beat in the general election than Barack Obama.

Assuming that's true and Republicans want Senator Clinton to be the Democratic nominee, has anyone thought about the impact that Republican voters might have in Ohio's "open" primary on the Democratic contest? In some parts of Ohio, of course, Republicans will have strong incentive to vote a Republican ballot (the Second Congressional District comes to mind, where there's a primary fight between Jean Schmidt and Tom Brinkman). In some places, though, there really won't be much going on in the way of local primaries (is the DeWine-King judicial primary really enough to keep Republican Hamilton County residents from crossing over to vote a Democratic ballot?). So what's to stop Republicans from voting a Democratic ballot in an effort to nominate Senator Clinton?

Any thoughts?

Full disclosure: I've previously noted my support--both figurative and financial--for the Obama campaign. I do not, believe, however, that "The Republicans hate Hillary" or "The Republicans think they'll beat Hillary" are reasons to vote for Obama.