Exit Polls Show Clinton Maintains Grip on Key Groups

Hillary Clinton held on to her share of the vote in key demographics that provided the bedrock for the early successes of her campaign, according to exit polls released yesterday.

And she even managed to erode some of the support Barack Obama has accrued in the primaries since Super Tuesday, a month ago.

Indeed, the exit polling conducted in the four states voting yesterday closely mirrored the exit polling on Super Tuesday: Clinton won among white voters, both male and female, she won among women of all races, she won among those earning less than $50,000 and those without college degrees, and she won among Hispanic voters.

Clinton managed to stem and in some cases reverse the inroads that Obama has made into her support. But she also managed to eat into some of his support, at least in Ohio.

Independents, who have swung behind Obama in previous primaries, favored Clinton by a single percentage point, and late deciders, who have also tended to favor Obama, went for Clinton.

It could suggest that the assault by the Clinton campaign of the last few days - the so-called "kitchen sink" strategy - worked.

However, voters consistently cited change as more important than experience, by 47% to 26% in Ohio, while 50% of Ohio Democratic voters said that Clinton had attacked unfairly compared to 31% who named Obama.

While Obama led 51%-48% among male voters in Ohio, Clinton had the support of majorities of white voters of both genders. She also retained the strong support she has shown in early contests among Hispanic voters, taking two-thirds of them in Texas, figures consistent with her performance in earlier big Hispanic states such as California.

And with Hispanic voters accounting for 32% of the vote in Texas, up from 24% in 2004, that constituency promised to provide a safety net in the state for the New York senator.

The economy emerged as the key issue for Democrats in all four states voting Tuesday. In Vermont, which went heavily for Obama, the war in Iraq was also a key concern, while in Ohio international trade was a worry.

In Vermont, 93% described the state of the economy as "bad", in Ohio it was 91%. Eight out of 10 Democratic voters in Ohio said they were worried about their family's financial situation; the same number said that foreign trade takes jobs away from their state.

Texans, however, professed themselves to be a little more optimistic, with a mere 84% describing the state of the economy as bad, and 24% even arguing that international trade creates more jobs.

The solution to the economic malaise, according to the exit polling, was change. Change was cited as easily the most important quality voters were looking for today: 57% in Vermont, 47% in Ohio and 43% in Texas said change was what they were looking for, ahead of experience (21%, 26% and 27%).

The good news for Obama is that a majority of Democratic voters in all four states think he is more likely to beat the Republican candidate in November, and that experience is not all it is sometimes said to be.

And they also think, by two thirds to one third, that the super-delegates should endorse whoever has won the most primaries.