IF TRUE, IT'S IMPORTANT – AT 10:12 A.M. ET:  We're seeing reports like this from a number of states.  Obviously, they have to be looked at with caution.  Cause-effect relationships in politics are very hard to prove.  But the claim is that Donald Trump is attracting many new voters to the Republican Party.  From CBS Pittsburgh: 

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – Nearly 46,000 Pennsylvania Democrats have switched to Republicans since the beginning of the year.

According to Penn Live, some experts attribute the mass exodus to Donald Trump.

There’s even a title for the movement. It’s called “Ditch and Switch” and calls for lifelong Democrats to abandon the party, register Republican, and help ensure Trump’s place in the general election.

Professor of Public Affairs at Franklin and Marshall College, Dr. G. Terry Madonna, tells the paper he has a theory behind the switch.

“With the increase in support in exit polls for Trump among working class, blue-collar Democrats, it is my belief that these are people who fall into that genre,” said Madonna.

The numbers are similar in other states as well.

The paper says in Massachusetts, as many as 20,000 Democrats have gone from blue-to-red this year with Trump cited as a primary reason. And in Ohio, as many as 1,000 blue collar workers have promised to switch parties and vote for Trump.

Numbers show that some Republicans are also switching to the Democratic party, but nowhere near the numbers that are switching to Republican.

COMMENT:   We won't know the full truth of this until after the November election, when all the statistics are analyzed.  However, we appear to be seeing the return of the Reagan Democrats, who helped Ronald Reagan get elected in 1980.

March 11, 2016