Economy, 1st time voters and Bush led Obama's win

Nearly one in 10 whites said race was an important factor in selecting a candidate, though only a tiny fraction said it was the most important factor. In both groups, nearly two-thirds were voting for McCain.

Altogether, more than half of whites were backing McCain, giving him more than a 10-percentage-point edge with those voters. Still, that was less than President George W. Bush's advantage of 17 percentage points with that group in 2004. Nearly six in 10 white men and nearly as many white women were backing the Republican.

The struggle for the white vote - about three-quarters of all voters - had a distinctly regional flavor. McCain was getting about two-thirds of white votes in the South - about the same edge Bush enjoyed in 2004. Among whites in the rest of the country, McCain led by a hair. Bush won non-Southern whites by 7 percentage points four years ago.

One group Obama has had trouble with all year _ whites who haven't finished college _ was leaning strongly toward McCain, approaching the 23-point margin by which Bush won them in 2004.

Virtually all blacks were supporting Obama. While Bush got about one in 10 black votes in 2004, McCain got almost none of their votes this year.

About two-thirds of Hispanics were also behind Obama. That was significantly stronger than the 53 percent who backed Democrat John Kerry four years ago.

Blacks were comprising just over one in 10 voters, slightly more than their share in 2004. Hispanics just under one in 10, about the same as four years ago.

Looking ahead

About half of all voters said they expect race relations to improve over the next few years, a third expect relations to stay the same, and one in seven think they will get worse.

But there were clear differences between the races in their expectations. About four in 10 whites and six in 10 blacks expect better race relations, while more whites than blacks expect things to stay the same.

Nearly three in 10 whites and one in seven Hispanics said the prospects of an Obama presidency made them scared. The idea of a President John McCain left about a quarter of whites, a quarter of Hispanics and six in 10 blacks feeling scared.

McCain's age

One in seven said the fact that McCain would enter the White House at age 72 was an important factor in their vote, though only a handful called it the most important factor. Overall, about three-quarters of both those groups voted for Obama. Strikingly, a third of Republicans and three-quarters of independents who called McCain's age an important factor voted for the Democrat.

The battle for the burbs, and other swing groups

Obama and McCain divided suburban residents equally, a voting bloc that comprised half of all voters. Bush won these voters by 5 percentage points in 2004.

Just over half of white Catholics backed McCain, as the Republican fell short of the 13-percentage-point edge Bush had with this pivotal group in 2004. Married women, who often divide closely between the two parties, favored McCain by a modest margin.

Hillary's hordes

Remember the doubts about what Hillary Rodham Clinton's supporters would do when the Democratic primaries finally ended? That question has been answered - and resoundingly in Obama's favor. More than eight in 10 voters who said they'd voted in the primaries for the New York senator and former first lady said they were voting for Obama.

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