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The Washington Times reports that John McCain is trying to get independents to vote in the California primary. Such a move would obviously be helpful to McCain and potentially Giuliani, while possibly detrimental to Mitt Romney.

But there are limits to McCain's outreach to independents. First, his high-profile support for the war and the surge could hurt him among these voters, who are especially opposed to both. Second, even when his numbers were particularly strong among independents in 2000, it wasn't enough. McCain cleaned up in the open primaries but lost to George W. Bush in the closed primaries.

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John McCain