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A Familiar Demographic Story in N.C.


Toney Baker (center), a 21-year-old first-time voter, registers to vote along with other young voters at the Pullen Arts Center, which is adjacent to the N.C. State University in Raleigh. (Jahi Chikwendiu / The Washington Post)

By Krissah Williams
ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. -- Small-town reporter Bob Montgomery spent his day exit polling for the Daily Advance, the local newspaper.

He wouldn't begin to argue that his findings are scientific, but they were an interesting reflection of this town of about 20,000, which is 40 percent white and 56 percent black.

His poll went like this: Watch a voter go into the polling station, and then chase them down as they left.

The first polling place he visited, with The Trail in tow, was the K.E. White Center on the campus of Elizabeth City State University, a predominantly black university. Montgomery's first interview was easy.

Delphine Walton, 65, stood in front of the polling place, sweating under her straw hat in the afternoon sun as she handed out leaflets for Obama. She'd been standing under a tree wearing her Obama button since 7 a.m.

"I'm a supporter of Barack Obama," she told Montgomery. "I want to encourage people that he's the right candidate to vote for. He had some obstacles in his way, but he keeps going, and I believe a change needs to come."

Montgomery filled out one of his exit polling sheets with her name and political preferences.

Next up, Jazmine Jones. The 18-year-old high school senior told Montgomery she voted for Obama because she believes "that he is going to take America to another level."

Montgomery asked her who she picked for lieutenant governor of the state, a post also being subjected to a primary vote.

"I can't even remember," she said. "Is that bad? It's my first time voting. ... I'm so excited."

The polling district is racially diverse, and Montgomery tried his best to vary his small sample.

After interviewing two African American women, one young and one old, he stopped a middle-aged white woman in a peach top.

"I'd rather not say," she told him, looking around at the handful of Obama volunteers milling outside the polling station. She told him her down-ballot picks, and then said, "Okay, I'll tell you. I voted for Hillary Clinton, but I might change my mind in the general election."

Soon after, he spotted an elderly couple, stereotyping them as Clinton supporters, too, and going over to interview them.

"They fit her demographic of older voters," Montgomery said.

They shooed him away, politely and shuffled to their car.

"Okay, I'll leave you alone," he called out.

After a few more interviews Montgomery took off for a more rural polling location and stood in the gravel parking lot in front of Towne South Church of Christ in the tiny township of Nixonton. He talked two to men who voted Republican, adding to John McCain's tally.

Then he stopped a short blonde woman in a black dress who works as a business consultant and voted for Clinton. She wouldn't give Montgomery her name because "the last thing my husband told me before he left for Raleigh this morning was 'You're voting for Obama, right?' He'll never know."

After he left the house, she changed her mind.

"It went down to the wire," she said. "It boiled down to experience. Right now it's just a matter of experience and contacts."

Linda Mercer, 58, who farms with her husband and votes independent, wouldn't say who she voted for, either, but she was right in line with Clinton on the gas tax.

"I don't care if it is $30. Every little bit counts. Some elderly person might benefit from that," Mercer said.

About 4 p.m., rain started pouring and Montgomery had a deadline to meet, so he left the church and headed back to the office at the Daily Advance. There, Montgomery assessed his findings and wrote them up for the next day's paper.

"It seemed that Obama is getting a 7 to 3 margin, and the ones who said they voted for him were ones who said they wanted change, and they feel confident in his ability and experience, and the recent negative attacks did not sway their mind," he said. "Those who voted for Clinton said the reasons were they felt she has more experienced and can more easily deal with the issues immediately because of her experience and Obama doesn't have quite the tested experience. Basically we had younger and black voters for Obama, and older white women for Clinton."

Sounds familiar.

Posted at 6:50 PM ET on May 6, 2008  | Category:  Primaries
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Comments

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Just proves the blacks will vote for anyone who is black. It really makes me sick.

Posted by: shar in va | May 14, 2008 11:01 AM

The Audacity of Dope?

Posted by: TTJ | May 6, 2008 7:49 PM

1.) Selma Got Me Born - Lie, you were born in 1961 - Selma had no effect on your birth, as Selma was in 1965.
2.) Father Was A Goat Herder - Lie, he was a privileged, well educated youth, who went on to work with the Kenyan Government.
3.) Father Was A Proud Freedom Fighter - Lie, he was part of one of the most corrupt and violent governments Kenya has ever had
4.) My Family Has Strong Ties To African Freedom - Lie, your cousin Raila Odinga has created mass violence in attempting to overturn a legitimate election in 2007, in Kenya. It is the first widespread violence in many years.
5.) My Name is African Swahili - Lie, your name is Arabic and 'Baraka' (from which Barack came) means 'blessed' in that language. Hussein is also Arabic and so is Obama.
6.) I Never Practiced Islam - Lie, you practiced it daily at school, where you were registered as a Muslim and kept that faith for 31 years, until your wife made you change, so you could run for office.
7.) My School In Indonesia Was Christian - Lie, you were registered as Muslim there and got in trouble in Koranic Studies for making faces (check your own book).
8.) I Was Fluent In Indonesian - Lie, not one teacher says you could speak the language.
9.) Because I Lived In Indonesia, I Have More Foreign Experience - Lie, you were there from the ages of 6 to 10, and couldn't even speak the language. What did you learn, how to study the Koran and watch cartoons.
10.) I Blame My Early Drug Use On Ethnic Confusion - Lie, you were quite content in high school to be Barry Obama, no mention of Kenya and no mention of struggle to identify - your classmates said you were just fine.
11.) An Ebony Article Moved Me To Run For Office - Lie, Ebony has yet to find the article you mention in your book. It doesn't, and never did, exist.
12.) A Life Magazine Article Changed My Outlook On Life - Lie, Life has yet to find the article you mention in your book. It doesn't, and never did, exist.
13.) I Won't Run On A National Ticket In '08 - Lie, here you are, despite saying, live on TV, that you would not have enough experience by then, and you are all about having experience first.
14.) Present Votes Are Common In Illinois - Lie, they are common for YOU, but not many others have 130 PRESENT VOTES.
15.) Oops, I Misvoted - Lie, only when caught by church groups and democrats, did you beg to change your misvote.
16.) I Was A Professor Of Law - Lie, you were a senior lecturer ON LEAVE.
17.) I Was A Constitutional Lawyer - Lie, you were a senior lecturer ON LEAVE.
18.) Without Me, There Would Be No Ethics Bill - Lie, you didn't write it,introduce it, change it, or create it.
19.) The Ethics Bill Was Hard To Pass - Lie, it took just 14 days from start to finish.
20.) I Wrote A Tough Nuclear Bill - Lie, your bill was rejected by your own party for its pandering and lack of all regulation - mainly because of your Nuclear Donor, Exelon, from which David Axelrod came.
21.) I Have Released My State Records - Lie, as of May, 1 2008, state bills you sponsored or voted for have yet to be released, exposing all the special interests pork hidden within.
22.) I Took On The Asbestos Altgeld Gardens Mess - Lie, you were part of a large group of people who remedied Altgeld Gardens. You failed to mention anyone else but yourself, in your books.
23.) My Economics Bill Will Help America - Lie, your 111 economic policies were just combined into a proposal which lost 99-0, and even YOU voted against your own bill.
24.) I Have Been A Bold Leader In Illinois - Lie, even your own supporters claim to have not seen BOLD action on your part.
25.) I Passed 26 Of My Own Bills In One Year - Lie, they were not YOUR bills, but rather handed to you, after their creation by a fellow Senator, to assist you in a future bid for higher office.
26.) No One Contacted Canada About NAFTA - Lie, the Candian Government issued the names and a memo of the conversation your campaign had with them.
27.) I Am Tough On Terrorism - Lie, you missed the Iran Resolution vote on terrorism and your good friend Ali Abunimah supports the destruction of Israel.
28.) I Am Not Acting As President Yet - Lie, after the NAFTA Memo, a dead terrorist in the FARC, in Colombia, was found with a letter stating how you and he were working together on getting FARC recognized officially.
29.) I Didn't Run Ads In Florida - Lie, you ran ads ONLY along the florida border as well as national ads in an attempt to reach Florida voters 8-12 times per day for two weeks - and you still lost.
30.) I Won Michigan - Lie, no you didn't.
31.) I won Nevada - Lie, no you did not.
32.) I Want All Votes To Count - Lie, you said let the delegates decide, and you have fought to have another primary in Michigan or Florida.
33.) I Want Americans To Decide - Lie, you prefer caucuses that limit the vote, confuse the voters, force a public vote, and only operate during small windows of time.
34.) I passed 900 Bills in the State Senate - Lie, you passed 26, most of which you didn't write yourself.
35.) My Campaign Was Extorted By A Friend - Lie, that friend is threatening to sue if you do not stop saying this. Obama has finally stopped saying this.
36.) I Believe In Fairness, Not Tactics - Lie, you used tactics to eliminate Alice Palmer (a fellow democrat that wanted you to replace her in the next term) from running against you by challenging ALL of her signatures and thus running unapposed.
37.) I Don't Take PAC Money - Lie, you take loads of it. The Obama PAC is the largest PAC in the US Senate. I dare Obama supporters to go look this up.
38.) I don't Have Lobbysists - Lie, you have over 47 lobbyists, and counting.
39.) My Campaign Had Nothing To Do With The 1984 Ad - Lie, your own campaign worker made the ad on his Apple in one afternoon.
40.) My Campaign Never Took Over MySpace - Lie, Tom, who started MySpace issued a warning about this to MySpace clients.
41.) I Inspire People With My Words - Lie, you inspire people with other people's words.
42.) I Have Passed Bills In The U.S. Senate - Lie, you have passed A BILL in the U.S. Senate - for Africa, which shows YOUR priorities.
43.) I Have Always Been Against Iraq - Lie, you weren't in office to vote against it AND you have voted to fund it every single time, unlike Kucinich, who seems to be out gutting you. You also seem to be stepping back from your departure date in Iraq - AGAIN.
44.) I Have Always Supported Universal Health Care - Lie, your plan leaves us all to pay for the 15,000,000 who don't have to buy it.
45.) I Only Found Out About My Investment Conflicts Via Mail - Lie, both companies you site as having sent you letters about this conflict have no records of any such letters ever being created or sent.
46.) My Wife Didn't Mean What She Said About Pride In Country - Lie, your wife's words follow lock-step in the vein of Wright and Farrahkan, in relation to their contempt and hatred of America.
47.) Wal-Mart Is A Company I Wouldn't Support - Lie, your wife has received nearly a quater of a million dollars through Treehouse, which is connected to Wal-Mart.
48.) Treehouse Is A Small Company - Lie, the CEO of Treehouse last year, made more than the CEO of Wal-Mart, according to public records.
49.) University Of Chicago Hospital Pay Is Fair - Lie, your wife's pay raise was nearly 150% her already bloated rate (going from $120K to $320K weeks after you got into the US Senate and tried to get a $1 million pork project for the very same hospital) and the hospital is a Non-Profit Hospital, which made $100,000,000 in the last 3 years. They overcharge blacks VS whites for services, and overcharge everyone in general by 538%!
50.) I Barely Know Rezko - Only 5 Billed Hours - Lie, you have known him for 17 years, and decided to do a real estate deal with him during a time when he was proven to be under investigation. Despite this, you divided your property and had them take off $300K before the mortgage problems started. Then Rezko's wife buys the lot beside it that you can't afford, saving you $625,000.
51.) My Donations Have Been Checked Thoroughly - Lie, you only gave back Hsu ($72K [Yes, the same Hsu, Obama supporters try to tie Clinton to]) and Rezko (first $66K, then when caught lying $86K, then when caught lying again $150K and now caught lying YET AGAIN, it's $250k) their money when publically called on their involvement in your campaigns.
52.) My Church Is Like Any Other Christian Church - Lie, your church is so extreme, the pastor who married you, Rev. Wright, just got done blaming the US for 9/11 and named Louis Farrahkan their person of the year.
53.) I Disagree With My Church All The Time - Lie, you only recently repudiated Wright, who married you and your wife, and you still donate large sums of money to assist the church in furthering its message - hatred and revenge. You donated in 2006 alone, $22,500 to the church that you so terribly disagree with. That is nearly $500 PER WEEK - that sure is disagreement, Senator Obama.
54.) I Have Clean Connections Despite Rezko - Lie, you are not only connected to Exelon and Rezko, you are also connected to Hillary PAC supporter Mr. Hsu, AND an Iraqi Billionaire of ill repute, Nadhmi Auchi, who ripped off people in the Food For Oil, Iraqi deal. Mr. Auchi was also found guilt in another political corruption scandal (largest in France since WWII). And this is one of Obamas' good supporters that paid millions into the Obama campaign.
55.) I never heard sermons like Rev. Wright's, that have been in videos all day, You Tube - Lie! 3 days later during your Mea Culpa speech you said "Did I hear controversial statements while I sat in that church? Yes I did." FLIP-FLOPER
56.) The Passport Invasion is a conspiracy to find dirt on me! - Lie. Your own Campaign Foreign Policy Advisor is the CEO of the company that looked into your records. Could it be that you had them look into yours to hide the fact you looked into Clinton's and McCain's more than a year before!
57.) Rev. Meeks has nothing to do with my campaigning - Lie. Rev. Meeks appeared in ads for your Senate Campaign, donated to you, and helped raise money, then AND NOW. He also seems to despise America as much as Rev. Wright.
58.) My wife didn't mean America is ignorant, she was just using a phrase - Lie. Again, MicHELLe's comments are perfectly in sync with Wright's, Meeks', and Farrakhans, both in language, anger, and direction.
59.) I am very Anti-Terror - Lie. One of your good pals is long time radical and terrorist William Ayers, with whom you have been seen in the last 12 months and who has helped the now jailed khalidi, Professor at Columbia who invited Ahmadinejad to the University, to raise money for Palestinian terrorism attacks against Israel. PS - Your church published a pro Hamas Manifesto - guess you weren't there on THAT Sunday either? How lucky for you.
60.) I have the best plan to cure the Mortgage Crisis - Lie. You and your campaign buddy Penny 'SubPrime Bank Collapse' Prizker have had your little fingers full of subprime cash - Obama has taken $1,180,103 from the top issuers of subprime loans: Obama received $266,907 from Lehman, $5395 from GMAC, $150,850 from Credit Suisse First Boston, $11,250 from Countrywide, $9052 from Washington Mutual, $161,850 from Citigroup, $4600 from CBASS, $170,050 from Morgan Stanley, $1150 from Centex, and last but certainly NOT LEAST - Obama received $351,900 from Goldman Sachs. I am sure that cash all came from folks who knew the subprime loan they had was a dream, eh?
61.) I played greater role in crafting liberal stands on gun control, the death penalty and abortion - Lie - It was found that Obama -- the day after sitting for the interview -- filed an amended version of the questionnaire, which appears to contain Obama's own handwritten notes added to one answer. Read Obama had greater role on liberal survey

Posted by: Michael | May 6, 2008 7:41 PM

Well, if that's the case, I hereby fully support Sen. Obama for the Democratic nomination ; )

Posted by: JakeD | May 6, 2008 7:23 PM

The question on every Democrats mind should be who can win in November.

Obama's hard drug history, his lack of experience, his arrgoance, his failure to know his own liimitiations, his failure to understand what's involved in being President, the fact that he doesn't have someone who's done it before to back him up, his far-left voting record, and his failure to ever demonstrate that he can bring the postive change that he claims he can and even more arrogantly claims that only he can, all make him unelectable.

Its not just that Obama's unelectable, its that he's unelectable for so many reasons.

It would be suicide for Democrats to nominate him.

Democrats can't afford to lose yet again.

Posted by: | May 6, 2008 7:20 PM

Congratulations to Barack HUSSEIN Obama.

Posted by: JakeD | May 6, 2008 6:53 PM

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