In the 5th Congressional District primary this past May, a teabagger type named Tim Crawford won the Democratic nomination to challenge longtime pain in the ass Republican Dan Burton.

This was a huge surprise, because Crawford mounted no campaign at all. He did have a website, but that's it. His opponent, a medical doctor named Nasser Hanna, actively campaigned and was widely expected to win easily. Instead Crawford won 61% to 39%. More here:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/5/24/10...

Indiana bloggers attributed the surprise to Hanna's middle-eastern sounding name, which seemed somewhat plausible at the time and may still be the reason. The Dems are not very well organized in Burton's back yard.

Now, though, with what's happened with Alvin Greene's inexplicable capture of the Democratic Senate nomination in South Carolina, there is a pattern emerging. The 5th CD is heavily Republican and although Burton was challenged hard (but foolishly, by FIVE republican opponents) he is likely to win no matter who the Dems would have nominated. Yet, as some think, this may have been a quiet, under-the-radar test of nominating a plant by manipulating voting machines. That, and a bit of an insurance policy in case Burton had been upset in the primary.

And yeah, Indiana uses DRE's too.

In SC, the favorite (Rawl) won the absentee votes handily but lost the election day vote in a landslide. Anyone know how the 5th district absentee ballots compared with election day?