Highlights of Vermont exit poll results
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Published: March 4, 2008
Highlights from results of exit polling Tuesday in the Vermont primaries for The Associated Press and television networks:
LIBERAL VERMONTERS
About two-thirds of voters in the Democratic primary described themselves as liberal, and about three in 10 said they were moderate. Obama won a majority of both groups, but he won by a larger margin among liberals.
CLINTON'S DESERTING BASE
Clinton lost among a group that has been her core of support in other states — white women. About three out of five white women voted for Obama. She also lost by similar margins among two other parts of her base — the elderly and the working-class.
THE SHADOW OF WAR
The Iraq war was identified as the top issue facing the country by about four in 10 voters — nearly the same as those who said the economy was most important. In every other Democratic primary this year, significantly more voters said the economy was the most important issue.
In Vermont about two in 10 said health care was the most important of the three issues, and they split their votes about evenly between Clinton and Obama.
THE CATHOLIC VOTE
Clinton typically won the Catholic vote in other states, but in Vermont even a majority of this group went for Obama.
LAST-MINUTE CLINTON SURGE
Clinton won a slight majority voters who made up their mind in the last three days. But four of five voters made up their mind earlier, and they overwhelmingly supported Obama.
ROCK THE VOTE?
Young voters — ages 18 to 29 — made up a little more than one in 10 voters, slightly more than in 2004 and about average for other Democratic primaries this year. They largely supported Obama.
BUT NO HARD FEELINGS
About three in five voters said they would be satisfied with either Clinton or Obama as the nominee, regardless of who they voted for Tuesday.
POINTS FOR CLARITY
Slightly more voters thought Clinton offered clear and detailed plans to solve the country's problems than thought Obama did. About one in five thought neither candidate did.
THAT'S NOT FAIR
More voters thought Clinton lobbed unfair attacks. More than half of voters thought Clinton attacked Obama unfairly; about a third thought Obama attacked unfairly.
Results from exit polling by Edison Media Research and Mitofsky International for The Associated Press and television networks. Samples in 20 precincts across Vermont. Based on interviews with 914 voters in the Democratic primary conducted as voters left their polling places. Margin of sampling error plus or minus 5 percentage points. There were not enough interviews to release a Republican exit poll.
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