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Women In N.H. Rally To Clinton, Polls Show

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By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK and MEGAN THEE, The New York Times

Published: January 9, 2008

MANCHESTER, N.H. - Democratic primary voters in New Hampshire viewed Illinois Sen. Barack Obama as more likely than New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton to beat the Republican nominee in 2008, according to exit polls done Tuesday, a reversal of previous trends in national polls.

But in contrast to polling results in the Iowa caucuses, women here rallied around Clinton. Nearly half the women who voted in the Democratic primary gave her their support, exit polls showed.

On the Republican side, nearly half of primary voters said their biggest concerns were terrorism and the Iraq war. The exit polls showed that nearly half were dissatisfied or angry with President Bush. A third disapproved of the war. Each of those groups of Republicans broke decisively for Arizona Sen. John McCain, suggesting more viewed him as a critic than as a supporter of the administration.

The wide-open contests in both parties drew record crowds, and some polling places were forced to send out for extra ballots. Voters in both parties said they were worried the economy was going in the wrong direction - including nearly all Democrats and about 8 in 10 Republicans - but exit polls suggested that a more complicated mix of issues decided the races.

Voters said they resoundingly rejected populist appeals to their economic anxieties that they had heard from former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina among the Democrats and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee among Republicans. Instead, Democrats said they were drawn to Obama's promises of unity and change, and Republicans to McCain's leadership in matters of national security.

Undeclared voters, who could participate in either primary, were a major factor on the Democratic side. Obama won big among undeclared voters but lost to Clinton among registered Democrats. On the Republican side, McCain beat former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney among undeclared voters, a mainstay of his support, and registered Republicans.

The exit polls were conducted by Edison/Mitofsky for the National Election Pool consortium among 1,799 Democratic voters and 1,300 Republican voters. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 4 percentage points for each party.

Obama received more than twice as much support as Clinton among voters under 30, lost to her narrowly among older voters and beat her handily among men. Democratic primary voters were roughly evenly divided among those who considered the war, health care and the economy the most important issues.

Republican voters were roughly evenly divided among those who cited the economy, war, terrorism and illegal immigration as top concerns. Besides gaining votes of those concerned about terrorism and the war, McCain won among those most worried about the economy, where Romney, founder of a giant private equity firm, hoped to have an edge.

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