ALBANY – Hillary Rodham Clinton last night lost ground with her core supporters of whites and women, even as she crushed rival Barack Obama among Hispanics, exit polls showed.
Clinton led Obama among whites 50 percent to 44 percent – a far lower ratio than during most of the earlier primary races.
And while she was ahead comfortably among white women (57 percent to 45 percent), she trailed the Illinois senator badly among young whites (35 percent to 64 percent).
Obama won support from more than four in 10 women, leaving him trailing Clinton in that category by just a few percentage points, according to surveys of voters.
Women made up 57 percent of yesterday’s vote nationally, according to the early polls.
Those under 30, whom Obama dominates, made up 12 percent of voters yesterday, the polls showed.
Clinton ran strongest among Hispanics, beating Obama by a 62 percent to 36 percent, while Obama drew his standard 80 percent of the black vote. He also did well among higher-income voters.
In what is considered good news for Obama, more than half of Democratic voters cited his key message of bringing about change as the most important quality they are seeking in a candidate.
When asked who is best able to bring about change, 72 percent of Democrats overall said Obama and just 25 percent named Clinton.
And while Clinton has been touting her experience over Obama’s, just 22 percent yesterday cited that as the most important quality.
Three-quarters of Obama supporters cited the need for change as their key issue, compared with just 3 percent who cited a candidate’s experience, the issue Clinton has been touting.
Among Clinton supporters, 45 percent cited experience as the key trait they are seeking, followed by 29 percent who cited an ability to bring about change and 15 percent who said she cared about people.
In a major change from just a few months ago, the economy was considered the most important issue among Democrats, followed by the Iraq war and health care.
More than 90 percent believe the economy is in bad shape.