For Democrats, it’s Hillary Clinton’s experience while Republicans like Donald Trump’s outsider appeal.
WASHINGTON — Women, blacks and older voters helped Hillary Clinton claim Super Tuesday victories in Virginia and Georgia, while Bernie Sanders claimed a clear advantage only with his devoted under-30 following in those two states.
Clinton was supported by 8 in 10 black voters in Virginia and Georgia, according to early exit polls conducted for The Associated Press and TV networks by Edison Research. Blacks made up half of Democratic voters in Georgia and a quarter of Virginia.
It was a different story in Sanders’ Vermont, where the two-term senator claimed huge majorities of both men and women, and across all age groups. Half of Vermont Democrats want the next president to be more liberal than Barack Obama – far more than in any other Super Tuesday state.
Other highlights from the exit poll:
OUTSIDER vs EXPERIENCE
Republicans in Virginia and Georgia who were looking for an outsider delivered a majority of their votes to Donald Trump. Those looking for a candidate with political experience? They were more likely to support Marco Rubio, a first-term senator who rejects the Washington insider label.
SOUR ON WASHINGTON
Republicans across the nine Super Tuesday states were in a sour mood toward Washington. And if they weren’t angry, they were dissatisfied: At least 8 in 10 Republican primary voters had negative thoughts toward Washington.
ABOUT OBAMA
On the Democratic side, voters in 8 of 9 primary states were more likely to want a continuation of Obama’s policies than a shift in a more liberal direction, as advocated by Sanders.
Majorities of Democratic voters in Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee and Virginia said they want a continuation of Obama’s policies, along with more than 4 in 10 voters in Arkansas, Massachusetts, Oklahoma and Texas. In each of those states, about a third of Democratic voters or less want a switch to more liberal policies. In Sen. Bernie Sanders’ home state of Vermont, about half of Democratic primary voters said they want the next president to change to more liberal policies.
HONESTY v. EXPERIENCE
Across each of the nine states, nearly half of Clinton’s voters said experience was the quality they were looking for, while only about a fifth or less selected electability, empathy or honesty. Nearly half of Sanders’ voters said honesty was most important.
STRAIGHT TALK
On the Republican side, 4 in 10 of Trump’s voters in the nine states said “telling it like it is” was the most important quality in a candidate. About 55 percent of Ted Cruz’s voters said sharing values was most important, as did 4 in 10 of Rubio’s voters.
THE ELECTORATE
Overall, white voters accounted for half of voters, or less, in three of the nine Democratic primaries with exit polls.
Nearly half of Democratic primary voters in Alabama and Georgia were black. In Texas, about 3 in 10 Democratic voters were Hispanic and less than 2 in 10 were black.
In Virginia, Arkansas and Tennessee, blacks made up a quarter of Democratic primary voters.
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