Exit polls: Obama gains with whites

McCain and Romney each had the support of nearly four in 10 people calling themselves Republicans. McCain has yet to win that group of voters in any GOP contest this year, though he has tied for the lead among them before. He led among independents — a consistent McCain strength — though Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, was not far behind.

McCain had more than a 2-to-1 edge over Romney among GOP moderates. Romney was compensating by getting about half the votes of people calling themselves very conservative, well ahead of Huckabee and McCain.

One-third of GOP voters said they are white, born-again and evangelical Christians, an area where McCain has been weak. On Tuesday, those votes were almost evenly divided among Huckabee, Romney and McCain — with McCain trailing slightly — essentially negating the influence of that pivotal bloc of Republican voters.

Those preferring a candidate with strong leadership over agreement on the issues, and looking for experience, were tilting strongly toward McCain.

But nearly half of Republicans were looking for a candidate who shares their values. Romney led with that group.

Romney also had four in 10 votes from Republicans who want to deport illegal aliens, for a clear lead over McCain.

The top issue for Republicans also was the economy, with four in 10 naming it. Those voters favored McCain, as did those citing Iraq and terrorism. Romney's advantage came with the one-fourth who said illegal immigration was their No. 1 concern.

But GOP voters sent a mixed message on the economy, picking Romney in a separate question as the one they most trusted to manage it.

The preliminary results came from exit polling by Edison Media Research and Mitofsky International conducted for The Associated Press and television networks. The partial samples came from more than 400 precincts across 16 states with primaries on Tuesday.

Included were interviews with 16,290 Democratic primary voters and 10,117 GOP voters. The margin of sampling error was plus or minus 1 percentage point for both parties. Also included was a poll conducted by telephone in Arizona, California and Tennessee to determine the views of early and absentee voters.

Picking the president: The candidates Click to visit that candidate's MSNBC page or click the XML symbol for an RSS feed. John McCain                Barack Obama

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