Voters again divided by age, income in Pennsylvania ballot

By Sasha Issenberg, Globe Staff

PHILADELPHIA -- Pennsylvania voters played to type today, hewing to the demographic loyalties set forth in earlier contests: Older, rural, and Catholic voters stuck with Hillary Clinton and young, new and black voters went for Barack Obama.

Exit polls and interviews with voters suggested that the disruptions to the race -- including controversies over Barack Obama's pastor, his comments about small-town bitterness, Clinton's claims of facing fire in Bosnia, and a high-profile debate that touched on all those subjects -- had little influence on the hardened demographic divide within the Democratic party.

"I don't believe they changed anybody's mind," said state representative Louise Bishop.

Despite early efforts to eat into each other's bases of support, both campaigns eventually stuck to their core demographic groups. In the final days, they focused on mobilizing turnout in their areas of strength: Obama in big-city Philadelphia and its affluent suburbs, Clinton in the state's working-class northeast and its rural, conservative center.

In Wynnefield, a largely African-American middle-class neighborhood in West Philadelphia, the flow of morning voters appeared to be dominated by Obama supporters, who expressed little concern that the local ward leader, Mayor Michael Nutter, was one of Clinton's most vocal supporters.

"I think Clinton had the chance when her husband was in office," said Jacqueline Coles, 63, a retired social worker. I don't think things will change that much with her."

One out of seven voters made their debut on the Democratic rolls with this election, and those new voters went for Obama by a margin of 60 percent to 38 percent, according to the exit polls, conducted for the Associated Press and television networks.

"It's a big increase -- oooh, that's wonderful to see," said Louise Moss, a judge of elections in Wynnefield, expressing surprise as she spotted the change in the voter rolls over last fall's mayoral vote. One of the new arrivals, Andrew Riley, stood just outside as received instructions from a campaign worker on how to cast his first vote for Obama -- press button #1, and only that one -- as demonstrated on a oversized pink ballot.

"He showed in the debate that he can handle the pressure," said Riley, high-school senior who turned 18 in December and registered to vote in March. "There is no doubt that he is ready."

The new voters also include Republican converts like Michael Gatcha, of Bear Creek near Wilkes-Barre, who said that he and his wife changed their registrations to back Clinton; it was the first time he had ever voted for a Democrat. "We were sold out by Bush," said Gatcha, a retired UPS employee who thought the country was losing its sovereignty through its trade deficit and illegal immigration.

Economic issues dominated the concerns of Pennsylvanians, nearly 90 percent of whom said the country is in recession.

"It's gas prices -- the way he said in the commercial the rich is getting richer and the poor are getting poorer," said Enoch Ankrah, 41, who works in the shipping and receiving department of a Wonder Bread bakery in Northeast Philadelphia. "I've got a daughter in college, a son in private school. I can't buy things for myself."

Those who said that the economy was the country's most important issue picked Clinton by a 13-point margin. "She's telling the truth about everything, you know?" said Robert Wharton, a 58-year old Scranton truck driver who believes Clinton is the only one talking candidly about how to turn the economy around.

Late-deciders went heavily for Clinton. The exit polls showed those who made their decision in the last week chose Clinton over Obama by a margin of 16 points.

"In the Philadelphia media market, politics is tough. That stuff doesn't turn people off," said Congressman Joe Sestak, who represents a suburban district. Sestak, a Clinton supporter, said that the campaign's canvassing showed a move towards his candidate in the race's closing days. "What you saw was the pragmatic side of Pennsylvanians. They still believe in the idealism, but hope is not a strategy."

A majority of those who voted said that they believed Obama would be the party's eventual nominee, and many voters said their picks were determined not by specific issues or leadership traits but on what they learned from watching the candidates in extended combat.

"I was thinking about Hillary, but they helped kick themselves out. I didn't like the games she was playing. She started out good and she started sliding downward," said Shirley McDonald, a Philadelphia postal worker.

"She's a fighter. She'll fight for anything," said Joanne Benedetto, 61, a teacher in Sewickley, an upscale Pittsburgh suburb. "She wants this presidency more than anyone else, and I sense that."