If It Is Tuesday, It Must Be Mississippi

Yesterday Mississippi, for the first time in a long time, was playing a major role in the nomination process. I went to two polling sites to take an informal exit poll. It was not easy, many people did not want to talk to anyone on the outside.

My voting site is in a neighborhood that is mostly white and military. So the the voter turn out in my station was moderate, because most of the people already have their nominee, McCain. Then I went to North side of the city to a voting station within a black neighborhood and the turn out was amazing. There were people waiting in lines to vote. Energized like never before in recent memory.

Final results were: Obama 61%--Clinton 37% Most blacks voted for Obama and the whites went with Clinton. Goes to show that there is still some residual bigotry left behind. The turn out statewide was heavy. Rain was the story of the morning but it did not deter voters, especially Obama voters.

I asked people questions like why did you vote for your candidate? The answers were not what I had thought. Most said that they voted because of the economy. Then there were a few that cited the war and health care. Gender and race were not mentioned, but that does not play because it appears to be the driving motivation.

All in all I was surprised at the vote. I knew Obama would win but the Clinton's have had a special relationship with the blacks in Mississippi and that did not matter; they went for Obama. I think the only explanation is that Clinton and the attacks on Obama is not playing well in the black community.

All in all, Mississippi was a bit of a surprise, an interesting turn and now Mississippi has made a difference. They should be pleased.