Early Exit Poll Peek

The polls in Kentucky close at 7:00pm ET and in Oregon at 11:00pm ET but here is a look at some of the early exit poll numbers. (Note: Because Oregon conducts all elections by mail, the poll in that state was conducted by phone and was completed on Sunday).

The split within the Democratic Party that has been evident in recent contests like West Virginia was revealed once again in Kentucky, where 80 percent of those voting for Hillary Clinton saying they would be dissatisfied with Barack Obama as the Democratic nominee while just 19 percent said they would be satisfied. Forty-nine percent of Obama voters in Kentucky said they would be dissatisfied with Clinton as the nominee while 47 percent would be satisfied.

Also, just 33 percent of Clinton voters in the Bluegrass State said they would back Obama in a general election. Forty one percent said they would support Republican John McCain and 23 percent said they would not vote in the fall. Seventy one percent of Obama voters said they would back Clinton in the fall should she win the nomination.

In Oregon, however, a majority of voters supporting both candidates said they would be satisfied with the other as the nominee. Fifty eight percent of Clinton voters there would be satisfied with Obama and 55 percent of his voters said they would be satisfied with Clinton. Sixty eight percent of Clinton’s supporters in Oregon said they would support Obama in the fall while 80 percent of his voters said they would back Clinton as the nominee.

Eighty five percent of the voters in Kentucky said they had made up their minds on who to support before the last week while 47 percent of voters in Oregon made their decision within that time frame. The economy continued to be the number one issue on the minds of voters this year. Sixty five percent of Kentucky voters cited it as the most important issue while 45 percent of Oregon voters said so. Thirty one percent of voters in Oregon said the war in Iraq was the most important issue for them.

Eighty seven percent of the voters in Kentucky and 71 percent of those in Oregon said they had been directly affected by a slowing economy. But where 57 percent of Kentucky voters said a temporary suspension of the federal gas tax is a good idea, 63 percent in Oregon thought it was a bad idea.

Most voters in both states said the ability to bring about change was the most important quality they were looking for in a candidate, followed by experience. A majority of voters in both states said they felt it has been Clinton who has attacked her opponent unfairly. And in Kentucky, 53 percent said they believe Obama shares the views of his former pastor Jeremiah Wright, compared to just 32 percent in Oregon who agreed with that.

In Kentucky, 45 percent of voters said former presidential candidate John Edwards’s of Obama was important in their vote; 51% said it was not. Also in Kentucky, 60 percent of Clinton voters said that she should not select Obama as her running mate should she win the nomination. Fifty eight percent of Obama’s voters in the state said he should not pick her.