South Carolina Exit Polls Reveal Important Issues to Democratic Candidates

The South Carolina Primary may have been just what democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama needed to boost his legitimacy in the campaign. Though the vote is hours expired in South Carolina, the democratic candidates will surely not forget the significance of the revealing exit polls in South Carolina. The race for the democratic ticket has brought out several important and controversial tactics and issues for the party and the voters of South Carolina certainly had to address these issues when voting. Furthermore, the results of the South Carolina reveal some variables that will surely play an important role on Super Tuesday, the biggest voting day of the campaign.

First, there are the key issues to the voters. The exit polls in South Carolina showed that over 50% of voters considered the economy the most important issue to them when voting. An additional 25 and 20% of voters considered healthcare and Iraq the most important, respectively. This points to several important issues in the campaign today. Voters are looking for answers on basic issues that affect the entire nation. It points to the desire for an end of petty politics that revolve around race.

And speaking of race, diversity in South Carolina pointed to several very interesting issues. One of those is that over 25% of voters thought America was neither ready for a black nor a female president. Look for such voters to take votes from the premier democratic camps, perhaps slewing a proportion of votes to the more typical candidate, John Edwards.

Despite these factors revealed by the South Carolina exit polls, there is another that perhaps will shape the future of both the Clinton and Obama campaigns more significantly than any other. The issue that voters agreed on the most in South Carolina was that Clinton and Obama supporters alike are sick of dirty politics. Well over 50% of voters polled in South Carolina felt that both camps used dirty tactics against the other, and further the same voters expressed fatigue with these tactics. The voters, black and white, also seemed to agree that the Clinton's have been slightly sleazier throughout the campaign. The issue here is a lack of unity amongst the democratic candidates. It is important for candidates to unify around the unpopularity of the Republican Party to communicate issues important to their voters. Looking ahead to Super Tuesday, we will certainly see a shift in tactics from Hillary and Bill Clinton, as well as Barack Obama. Between South Carolina and Super Tuesday the camps will set their sights on the future, focusing on the most important issues to voters. We will also see more attention paid to the faults of the current administration. Before Super Tuesday, there will be very little attention paid to race and gender as the candidates leave petty politics behind and focus on the issues that are most important to voters.

The South Carolina Primary exit polls revealed many key issues in the democratic race. The results of these polls will certainly shape the future campaign practices of the Democratic Party hopefuls.

Exit Poll results taken from MotherJones.com at http://www.motherjones.com/mojoblog/archives/2008/01/7001_exit_polls_in_s.html