VA EXIT POLLS (per NBC):
- Obama wins voters who make less than $50k, 59% Obama, 40% Clinton - this was a constituency that's been hard for Obama to get
- Obama won Democrats 59-41
- Obama won independents 66-33
- Obama won Republicans 70-26
GOP election too close to call in VA. DC and MD polls don't close till 8pm Eastern. Hillary's people were hoping to keep things close in Virginia, but exit polls suggest Obama got a pretty big victory.
From NBC:
- Obama took 90% of the black vote, and 48% of the white vote (Hillary got 51% of the white vote).
- Obama won white men 55% to Hillary's 43%, and Hillary won white women 58% to Obama's 42%.
- Obama took 62% of independents
From the Wash Post:
At one time, the Potomac Primary was considered an afterthought by the two Democratic rivals, with so much riding on the Super Tuesday contests in 22 states including New York and California. But with the race for the nomination a dead heat, the 168 combined delegates in Maryland, Virginia and the District loom as an important political prize....
Virginia was the state in which Clinton, reeling from a staff shakeup and a series of defeats in primaries and caucuses last weekend, had hoped to perform beyond modest expectations.
Obama's win in Virginia bodes well for his chances in Maryland and the District of Columbia, both of which held primaries today and where polls close at 8 p.m.
Should Obama sweep the Potomac Primary -- and pick up most of the 168 delegates at stake in the three states -- he will have claimed eight straight contests since Feb. 5's Super Tuesday votes. He is also well positioned in Wisconsin and Hawaii, both of which vote a week from today.
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