Georgia: Obama, Huckabee wins
ATLANTA (AP) - February 5, 2008 Georgia, with its 72 Republican delegates and stalwart base of
religious voters, had been critical for Huckabee, who burst to the
front ranks with his upset victory last month in the Iowa caucuses.
He also cast himself as the champion of the "Wal-Mart Republican"
rather than the "Wall Street" wing of the party represented by
Romney.
On the Democratic side, Barack Obama coasted to victory over
rival Hillary Rodham Clinton, riding a wave of support from
Georgia's large black population.
Six in 10 GOP voters on Tuesday were white evangelicals and
born-again Christians. Huckabee won four in 10 of their votes,
according to exit polls.
Jeff Spencer was one of them. A Baptist minister in a rural area
east of Savannah, Spencer said social issues were his top concern.
"Before Huckabee came up, there wasn't a real conservative,
Republican view in the race as far as the right wing goes,"
Spencer said.
Blacks comprise about half of the Democratic primary vote in
Georgia, and exit polls showed they lined up overwhelmingly behind
Obama, an Illinois senator seeking to become the nation's first
black president.
"Obama is just better because he makes people, like myself, get
up and want to do something positive," said Felix Omigie, a black
42-year-old truck driver from Riverdale. "I can see that he is
trying to tap more into the younger generation. He can relate to
them."
Obama had cultivated black support in the state, speaking from
the pulpit of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s church the day
before the federal holiday honoring the slain civil right leader.
But Clinton made him work for the win. The former first lady had
the backing of prominent black leaders such as Rep. John Lewis, a
civil rights hero, and former Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young.
Many voters in Georgia said Tuesday they were moved by Obama's
message more than his skin color.
"I didn't want to vote for Obama just because he was black,"
said Jacqueline Jenkins, 42, a black administrative assistant and
part-time college student who voted outside Albany. "I didn't want
to vote for Hillary just because she's a woman. I think both bring
a lot to the table. I just think Obama would be a better choice."
The election was the first statewide in which Georgia required a
photo identification of all voters casting their ballots in person.
Some sporadic problems were reported, in part because people could
not wait out delays caused by the ID checks before they had to
leave for work.