With minutes left until the first polls official close at 6pm, the first exit polls have started coming in and they confirm that the economy remains the top issue for a majority of voters, according Edison Research exit polls cited by the WSJ, followed by terrorism, foreign policy and immigration.
The WSJ also notes that voters were asked about Supreme Court appointments and around 70% said it was an important factor or the most important factor in their vote for president, including roughly 1 in 5 voters who said it was the most important factor overall. When it came to the quality that mattered most in picking a candidate, a plurality selected someone who “can bring needed change.” Having “the right experience” and having “good judgment” were tied for second, followed by someone who “cares about people like me.”
The publication also notes that according to exit polls “fear leads optimism” – a message that should benefit Trump. The top choice among voters when asked how they would feel about a Hillary Clinton victory was scared, followed closely by optimistic, concerned and excited. In all, 53% said they would be scared or concerned versus 43% who would be excited or optimistic. Asked about a Donald Trump victory, the order was identical: scared, optimistic, concerned and excited. A total of 58% said they’d be scared or concerned by a Trump victory versus 39% who would be excited or optimistic.
According to an exit poll cited by Fivethirtyeight.com, many voters were motivated by dislike of one of the candidates more than by support for the person they voted for. One in five Clinton voters said they chiefly oppose the other candidate, and 27 percent of Trump supporters said the same; those figures were just 8 percent for Obama voters in 2012 and 10 percent for Romney voters. Asked about Trump’s treatment of women, 70 percent all voters said they were bothered some or a lot; 62 percent said the same about Clinton’s emails while secretary of state.
The website also reports that exit polls confirm that black turnout may be down in North Carolina: only 21 percent of voters in North Carolina identified as black. That’s down slightly from 23 percent in 2012. On the other hand, minority turnout is way up in Florida. In the preliminary exit polls, 39 percent of voters were people of color. That compares to just 33 percent in 2012.
Finally, while we would normally ignore the propaganda powerhouse that is CNN, for the sake of completeness, its own exit polls suggest that 54% of voters going to the polls today said they approve of the job Barack Obama is doing as President, but only about four in 10 said they would be excited or optimistic about a Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump presidency. And more – nearly seven in 10 — said they were dissatisfied or angry with the way the government was working. About four in 10 voters said their top priority in a candidate was one who could bring needed change, but a similar share said they were voting on experience or judgment. Fewer said they were seeking an empathetic candidate.
About eight in 10 said they were at least somewhat confident that the results of the election would be counted accurately.
via http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-11-08/exit-polls-reveal-fear-leads-optimism-economy-remains-top-issue Tyler Durden