The Denver Post

Angry Trump voterswant outsider

Clinton supporters prefer an insider with experience

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washington » Hillary Clinton held on to older people and ate into Bernie Sanders’ support among the 30- to- 44 crowd on SuperT uesday as her rival claimed a clear advantage with only one age group: his devoted under- 30 followers.

On the Republican side, Donald Trump and his mad- as- hell message pulled in nearly two- thirds of voters looking to install an outsider in the White House. Those more interested in a candidate with political experience? They split about evenly between firstterm Sens. Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, according to exit polls conducted for The Associated Press and television networks by Edison Research.

Other highlights from the exit polls: PORTRAIT OF A TRUMP VOTER Nine in 10 of Trump’s voters are looking for an outsider. Half are angry with the government. Nearly as many want a candidate willing to “tell it like it is.” Four in 10 said theywere born again, cutting into Ted Cruz’s efforts to claim the evangelica­l vote.

Trump, who has professed mutual admiration with “poorly educated voters,” was favored by half of voters without a college degree. His followers are nothing if not loyal: Six in 10 of his voters made up their minds more than a month ago. PORTRAIT OF A CLINTON VOTER More than 90 percent of Clinton’s voters want an insider, and nearly half say experience is the quality they are looking for in a candidate. Two- thirds of her voters want to continue President Barack Obama’s policies, rather than shift in a more liberal direction. And, just as with Trump, 60 percent of her backers made up their mind more than a month ago. Two- thirds of her supporters are women, and two- thirds are 45 or older. SOUR ON WASHINGTON GOP voters across the nine Super Tuesday primary states were in a sour mood toward Washington. If they weren’t angry, they were dissatisfi­ed: At least 8 in 10 Republican primary voters had negative thoughts toward Washington. Democrats were not quite as critical: 60 percent had negative opinions about the federal government. SANDERS’ BRIGHT SPOT Oklahoma turned out to be a rare bright spot for Sanders beyond his home base of Vermont. Whatwas his magic formula so far from home? He held on to the 30to-44- year- oldswho divided their votes about evenly elsewhere on Super Tuesday.

Sanders claimed 8 in 10 voters under age 30, and 7 in 10 of those aged 30- 44. Clinton got only about half the votes of those 45 and older.

Go figure: Sanders did the best in the night’s most liberal state ( Vermont) and the least liberal state ( Oklahoma), where less than half of Democratic voters described themselves as liberal. CRUZ’S CORNER With victories in his home state of Texas and neighborin­g Oklahoma, Cruz did well in the two states with voters who were looking for someonewho shares their values. More than half of Texas GOP voters who placed importance on shared values, and nearly half of those in Oklahoma, said they voted for Cruz. Cruz also drew support from white born- again Christians, who represente­d two- thirds of voters in Oklahoma and just over half of Republican­s in Texas. In both states, Cruz was backed by at least 4 in 10 of them. RUBIO’S REALM Rubio did well with voters for whom electabili­ty is important. But, unfortunat­ely for him, Republican­s just weren’t that into electabili­ty. Less than 15 percent of voters singled that out as an important candidate quality. He also did well with voters looking for experience. That mattered to about 4 in 10 GOP voters. Late- deciders were a bright spot for him: Rubio was supported by about a third of voters who made up their minds in the last week, when he went on the offensive to try to take down Trump. CLINTON’S COALITION Women, blacks and older voters all bolstered Clinton’s standing. She showed the same strength among African- Americans that she did in South Carolina, supported by at least 80 percent of black voters in Alabama, Arkansas, Virginia, Georgia, Tennessee and Texas. Black voters made up just about half of voters in Alabama and Georgia, 3 in 10 in Tennessee and about a quarter of Virginia and Arkansas.

Clinton made inroads with young- ish ( 30- 44) voters, who divided their votes about evenly between the two Democrats.

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