South Carolina Exit Polls: What Does the Primary Tell Us?

The Democratic Presidential Primary in South Carolina answered a few of the questions that lingered in the tight race between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. While John Edwards is still pushing through to Super Tuesday, the South Carolina Primary further solidified Clinton and Obama as the front runners. Considering the suddenly racially charged questions, and others surrounding the primary and the candidates, what did this South Carolina Primary tell us about what is ahead? All exit poll statistics were found through CNN's Online Election Center.

Gender

Barrack Obama captured over 50% of both Male and Female votes. This offers a glimpse into the future in terms of gender in two major ways. In one way, it shows that Barack Obama, at least in South Carolina, has swayed the woman's vote to his side. Many wonder whether women will flock to Hillary Clinton to support the "First Woman President" cause. His 54% win with female voters shows that this is not the case. Secondly, it shows that while men did vote for Barack (again with 54%), they also vote for Hillary. Clinton secured 23% of the male vote in South Carolina. Considering the huge win by Barack Obama in terms of the Primary as a whole, this shows that she still could have an upper hand with men in the states that she will be more dominant in.

Age

When looking at age in terms of South Carolina's Primary, you need to be somewhat careful. Barack's huge win across the state has made the age statistic somewhat misleading. Barack won from ages 18-64, with Hillary Clinton taking the 65 and over demographic. Barack again showed his hold over the younger demographic, as the 18-24 and 25-29 groups voted for Barack in an overwhelming fashion (65 and 70%, respectively).

Race

Considering the heavily racial tone of the campaign in the last week or two, this portion of the exit polls was under a microscope. South Carolina was the first southern state to hold it's primary, and it brought out a complex but straightforward debate; Who will court the black vote? Hillary (along with husband Bill) have long had the support of the African American Demographic. Would this hold strong? Or would Barack Obama win the vote of those who are ready to see an African American President? South Carolina responded very loudly, with Obama sweeping the black vote across the state. According to CNN, Obama captured over 80% of the black vote. Obama also won the 18-24 white demographic, showing that he could cross racial lines, and so can America.

So what did South Carolina show us? It showed us that American is ready for a woman president, and is also ready for a black president. It showed us that Obama's youth vote is still going strong, and that the racial questions brought out by the South Carolina Primary may be unfounded. It really seems as though Americans are ignoring both Gender and Race and are willing to vote for whomever they believe will be the strongest president.