Horserace
April 22, 2008 5:49 PM

Early Exit Poll Peek

By
Vaughn Ververs
Topics
Exit Polls
Polls close at 8:00pm in Pennsylvania and here is a look at some of the early exit poll results among Pennsylvania Democratic voters. Most Keystone State voters made up their minds about who they were supporting before last week. Seventy seven percent said they made their choice before that, 23 percent did so within the past week. Click here for the updated exit poll data.

The economy was the issue that Democratic primary voters said mattered most to them today, as it has been in most every other state throughout the campaign. Fifty four percent chose the economy as the most important issue, compared to 28 percent who said the war in Iraq and 14 percent who said health care. Eighty nine percent said the U.S. is in a recession while 10 percent said it is not.

Change was the most important quality for voters in Pennsylvania today. Forty nine percent of voters said change was what they were most looking for in a candidate while 26 percent said experience was what mattered to them. Fourteen percent said they were looking for a candidate who cared about them and just 8 percent said they most wanted a candidate who could win in the fall.

After being deluged with campaign ads for weeks, more than half said those ads were an important factor in their decision. Fifty four percent said the ads were important while 43 percent said they were not.

More than half of the supporters of both candidates say they would not be satisfied if the other candidate ends up as the Democratic nomination. Sixty four percent of Clinton voters said they would not be satisfied with Obama as the nominee while 35 percent said they would. Fifty four percent of Obama voters also said they would not be satisfied with Clinton, 44 percent said they would be. Overall however, 70 percent of all Democratic primary voters said they would be satisfied with Clinton as the nominee while 64 percent said they would be satisfied with Obama.

When it comes to the general election, Clinton fared slightly better against John McCain among Democratic primary voters today. Clinton led McCain 80 percent to 11 percent while Obama bested the presumptive GOP nominee 72 percent to 15 percent. But 26 percent of Clinton supporters say they will support McCain in the fall election if Obama is the nominee while 17 percent of his supporters said they would vote for McCain if Clinton wins the nomination.

Add a Comment See all 42 Comments
by ranger1948 April 23, 2008 1:07 AM EDT
waylon70
Check the latest polls, Hillary took Pa by a landslide. She can beat obama.I would rather have her than McCain, but will take McCain over obama. I will take anyone over obama.
Reply to this comment
by ranger1948 April 23, 2008 12:23 AM EDT
The parties always try to force feed us candidates that is why i do not support a party. I do not care What RACE THE CANDIDATE IS. I WANT A CANDIDATE WHHO WILL LEAD OUR NATION AS ONE, WHO WILL GET US OUT OF IRAQ, ADDRESS THE PROBLEM OF GAS PRICES, AND ALL THE PROBLEMS WE HAVE AT HOME.
Reply to this comment
by ranger1948 April 23, 2008 12:17 AM EDT
element51
This is why i am not a party member who will support a party whether they are right or wrong.Again we are supposed to choose which is the lesser of the evils like last time. I think Hillary ran the White House while bill was getting blow jobs. We had a great economy under Clinton.
Reply to this comment
by darrren12000 April 23, 2008 12:16 AM EDT
Please stop saying that Dems voting for McCain are "fake." This is not true. I would never vote for McCain, but I am not voting for Obama. I have stated my reasons before. I am upset that the media and the party establishment tried to force-feed us a candidate. I am also disturbed by portrayals of poor democrats as uneducated and therefore less reliable as voters. I am tired of the blatant sexism -- and racism, fake or real. I am particularly angry that older Democrats have been discarded by younger Dems as "more of the same" or "politics as usual." Obama is the ONLY person who wants change. Support him OR you support Bush. He even conflated Bush and Bill Clinton during his bitter-gate rant. Sorry, but villifying the Clintons never works. When all of those fat white guys kept saying Clinton should drop out (of course, with Obama''s approval) and the media and his internet posse kept tossing gas on the flames, it only made her supporters more defiant.

I am a lifetime Dem. I am very progressive. I have never voted for a Republican. I opposed the War. I thought the Supreme Court was pathetic in Bush v Gore. I believe that Reagan was awful for society. Despite this, I also believe that the Democrats should suffer for how they ran this. Last time, they crushed Dean - the frontrunner -- because the media decided they didn''t like him. Now, they did the same with Clinton. They must learn. No better time than the present.
Reply to this comment
by waylon70 April 23, 2008 12:15 AM EDT
ranger1948 I agree with you about Ron Paul, Obama is not perfect but Hillary is just a tool, when she speaks for herself its like listening to a broken record of how she hasn''t got a fair shake from the Dems. She won''t beat McCain, she can''t catch Obama. Lets try to get out the middle east, whoever we have to vote for.
Reply to this comment
by ranger1948 April 23, 2008 12:12 AM EDT
McVet
I think you are also blinded like the other followers of obama. I think his true character has been revealed ansd i will not vote for him.
Reply to this comment
by ranger1948 April 23, 2008 12:11 AM EDT
I still believe if obama is elected a racist group will asasinate him. I don''t want that to be a part of our history no matter how much i dislike obama.We need to rebuild our image and stop trying to be the worlds police.
Reply to this comment
by mcvet April 23, 2008 12:09 AM EDT
You need to wake up. If obama gets the nomination then the election is assured for McCain. Obama is the liar, racists, terrorist and mob friendly character.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by ranger1948 at 08:56 PM : Apr 22, 2008
+ report abuse

I wish you wouldn''t do this. Obama is OUR senator, the citizens of Illinois and every word you have said about him is a LIE! We LIVE with him and he''s represented the citizens of this state for awhile now. He is NOT a racist, is as HONEST as any Politician we''ve ever had and truly represents the people who elected him. Bitterness isn''t going to gain you anything my friend.
Reply to this comment
by mcvet April 23, 2008 12:07 AM EDT
ranger 1948....I never said that. I would never advocate taking a persons right to vote away from them. Maybe my choice of words was a little confusing but I never meant to imply anything like that. It wasn''''t necessary for you to use the f word toward me. I have no problem with you. What I meant was that if you are a democrat, and can''''t vote for your party''''s nominee please don''''t help the republicans win. If you are a republican then by all means go cast your vote for McCain. In the past I have read your posts and pretty much agreed with you. And I am a Viet Nam vet so I served too.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by Element51 at 09:01 PM : Apr 22, 2008
+ report abuse

I agree with you Brother. I started out a Clinton Supporter but switched to Obama after I heard his positions on several subjects. It is going to very difficult on the loser in this race because it has been so heated and lengthy... not to mention close, but to fight it to the end then switch at the end because you lost... it''s sour grapes and would most certainly result in a bad pick for President. When we elect Presidents that way they''ve always turned out bad.
Reply to this comment
by ranger1948 April 23, 2008 12:07 AM EDT
element51
I will give you the benefit of the doubt about your comment and i apologize for the remark. I do not consider myself democrat or republican. I always look at what each candidate offers and try to choose the one i think is better qualified. Unfortunately this time Ron Paul waw not taken serious enough to be put on the ballot.
Reply to this comment
See all 42 Comments
.

Follow Horserace

Scroll Left
Scroll Right More »
CBS News on Facebook