WV demographics friendly to Clinton
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Highlights from preliminary results of exit polls in the West Virginia Democratic primary on Tuesday. The polls were conducted for The Associated Press and television networks:
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DEMOGRAPHICS TELL THE STORY:
Highly favorable demographics helped Hillary Rodham Clinton rack up one of her largest victory margins of the 2008 Democratic primary season in West Virginia. The exit polls recorded several demographic extremes among groups with a strong history of solidly backing Clinton:
_ Roughly 95 percent of West Virginia Democratic voters were white. Only the Democratic primaries in New Hampshire and Vermont and Democratic caucuses in Iowa had that high a proportion of white voters this year.
Today in Americas
_ Four in 10 were over age 60. The only other states with somewhat similar numbers were Arkansas, Arizona, New Mexico and Oklahoma — and Clinton won all four states. Yet in West Virginia, Clinton even won voters under 30, a group that Obama has taken with about 60 percent of the vote on average in past primaries.
_ It was the electorate with the highest proportion — just about seven in 10 — of people who lack a college degree. The same held true for whites without a college degree.
_ A little more than half of voters were from rural areas, second only to Vermont for rural voters in Democratic primaries this year (though Vermont did go for Obama nevertheless).
_ And the West Virginia electorate was among the bottom five Democratic primaries in terms of income, with more than half reporting 2007 family income of less than $50,000.
RACE, GENDER AS VOTING FACTORS
One in five white Clinton voters said race was an important factor in their vote and nearly 85 percent of them voted for Clinton against Obama, who would be the first black major-party presidential nominee. Of the 27 states where this question was asked in the exit polls, only in Mississippi did as many whites vote against Obama after citing race as a factor.
Somewhat fewer women — about one in seven — said gender was an important factor in their vote and more than 80 percent of them favored Clinton, who would be the first woman to win a major-party presidential nomination.
THE REV. WRIGHT FACTOR
Half of voters said Obama shares the views of his fiery former pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, "a lot" or "somewhat" and six in seven of them voted for Clinton. Obama won support of only 3 percent of those who said he shares Wright's views a lot. Clinton even held a narrow edge among the one in five who said Obama shares Wright's views "not much." Obama won (with about 60 percent) only among the 25 percent who say he doesn't share Wright's views at all.
GAS TAX HOLIDAY
Nearly two-thirds supported Clinton's proposal to suspend the federal gas tax for the summer and three-quarters of those voted for Clinton. Obama ran about even with Clinton among those who say it's a bad idea. Looked at another way, seven in 10 Clinton voters supported the gas tax suspension; Obama opposes the plan and a little more than half of his voters called it a bad idea.
ECONOMIC WORRIES
More than six in 10 voters picked the economy from three choices as the most important issue facing the country. About one in five picked the Iraq war.
Clinton voters were more likely than Obama backers to say the economy was hurting their families a lot. Half of Clinton voters said the current recession or economic slowdown has affected them and their families a great deal. About three in 10 Obama voters said the slowdown has affected them a great deal and more than half said it affected them somewhat.
UNFAIR CAMPAIGNING
As in other states, West Virginia Democratic primary voters were more likely to accuse Clinton than Obama of unfair campaigning. Even half of Clinton's own voters said she campaigned unfairly, as did three-quarters of Obama backers. Three in 10 Obama voters said their own candidate campaigned unfairly while more than half of them said Clinton hit below the belt.
LOOKING AHEAD TO THE END OF THE NOMINATION FIGHT ...
If they had to choose, seven in 10 voters said they'd prefer that their candidate wins the Democratic presidential nomination, even if the race continues for months. A quarter said they'd prefer the race ends as soon as possible, even if their candidate loses the nomination.
In a sign of increasing rancor between the candidates backers, three-quarters of Clinton voters in West Virginia said they would be dissatisfied if Obama wins the nomination; six in 10 Obama voters said they would be dissatisfied with Clinton as the nominee. Both are new highs among 28 states where this question has been asked.
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