Exit polls: Why Obama won VT
Posted: Tuesday, March 04, 2008 7:39 PM by Domenico Montanaro
From MSNBC's Norah O'Donnell and Adam Verdugo
Vermont is one of the most liberal states and anti-war states in the country. The Obama campaign believes it can net more delegates out of Vermont, than if Hillary Clinton wins both Ohio and Texas, because of potential margin of victory. So this win for Obama is significant. We’ll see later how those delegates are allocated.
In Vermont, as in the other states today, the economy was the No. 1 issue. Also interesting to note here: the war in Iraq -- it ranks higher (second with 38%) here than we've seen in any other primary state. Healthcare came in third with 19%.
Why? According to the Deptartment of Defense, Vermont has suffered the highest per capita rate of causalities in Iraq. And for those voters who considered Iraq the most important issue, Obama took those voters 3-to-1.
Another area where Obama scored well: Voters thought he is best suited to fill the position of Commander-In-Chief: Obama 51%, Clinton 42%.