Tennessee: Clinton, Huckabee win
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - February 5, 2008 With 90 percent of precincts reporting, Huckabee had 33.9
percent of the vote, about 2 percentage points more than Arizona
Sen. John McCain.
Exit polls conducted for The Associated Press and the television
networks show Huckabee ran strong among born-again Christians and
conservatives, while McCain did best among moderates and those
ranking "the right experience" and ability to win in the general
election as most important.
Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas, is a former Southern
Baptist preacher.
A majority of voters in the Democratic primary were white and
women, and Clinton ran strongly in both demographics, according to
exit polls conducted for The Associated Press and the television
networks.
The New York senator's victory over Illinois Sen. Barack Obama
followed Tennessee wins by her husband, former President Bill
Clinton, who twice carried the Volunteer State with favorite son Al
Gore as his running mate. Clinton was also Arkansas' first lady for
12 years.
"I thought the Clinton days were great, and I want them back,"
said Daniel Casey, a 51-year-old salesman in Nashville who voted
for Clinton.
Obama wasn't able to duplicate his success in neighboring states
like Georgia, Alabama and South Carolina because Tennessee has a
smaller black population and because "even Democrats in this state
are fairly conservative," said Anthony Nownes, a University of
Tennessee political science professor.
The state's Republican vote was once expected to go to former
Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson, but he dropped out of the race two
weeks before Super Tuesday.
