Observations from OK exit survey re: Clark & Edwards

[Toucano]

http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2004/primaries/pages/epolls/OK/index.html

I was looking over CNN's exit survey info from Oklahoma and was surprised by a few things.

1. There was no gender gap between Clark and Edwards. Both had 31%
of female votes and male votes were 28% Clark and 29% Edwards.

2. Clark had more of the youth vote with 34% of 18-29 year olds to
Edwards' 26%. Of the 65 and older voters, the same disparity
existed, but Edwards had 28% to Clark's 34%.

3. Most surprising was the party ID question. Of the 6% who identified
themselves as Republicans, Edwards got 34% and Clark got 13%.
Among the Democrats, they were closer with Edwards at 28% and Clark at 32%. Could these Republicans have been Rush listeners?

4. That leads to the "ideology" question where 35% of "very conservative"
voters chose Edwards compared with 14% choosing Clark.

5. By income, Clark and Edwards tied with those making 30-50K at 29% each,
but for those who make under 15K, Clark lead 33% to 24%.

It is interesting to me that Oklahoma defied the conventional wisdom we've heard about these two candidates.

1. Edwards will be more popular with women. Not in OK.
2. Edwards youthful appearance means he appeals more to young voters. Not in OK.
3. Clark is a republican stealth candidate. Not in OK.
4. Clark appeals to conservative voters. Not in OK.
5. Edwards' humble roots will appeal more to lower-income voters. Not in OK.

I see it as proving the pundits wrong yet again.

[jmaier]

1. It sort of suggests

that in 3-way races, Wes Clark draws more from Kerry than Edwards. If that's true, Edwards is probably better off with Clark in the race, otherwise, imagine all of those 50%+ outcomes for Kerry.

[DancingBear]

2. Was OK an "anyone can vote" primary?

If so, it smacks of mischief voting.

[1morelib]

3. No

Oklahoma has a closed primary. Only registered Democrats could vote in the Democratic primary. There are some very conservative Democrats here.
One interesting note: In the Republican primary Bush's opponent received about 10% of the vote.

[aquanut]

4. Exit polls: Clark == Experience, stands up for his beliefs.

My favorite part of the exit polls...

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=1963&e=23&u=/ap/20040204/ap_on_el_pr/democrats_exit_polls_8&sid=96378798

Clark, the retired Army general, won Oklahoma — by less than 1,000 votes — with support of voters looking for a candidate with the right experience and among those who said standing up for beliefs is most important.

[Jerseycoa]

5. Excellent! nt

[MoonRiver]

6. Wow! Does this mean that Americans really have functioning brain cells??

The poor rightwing pundits will have to let go of their most cherished notion that people here are totally programmable stepford folk. I think We The People are moving and shaking the bottom feeding media scumbags. And Clark is the one to lead our way!!

:kick: