Exit polls: War, corruption, balance of power moved voters

WASHINGTON — Republicans lost their advantage among voters most worried about terrorism, exit polls found, depriving the GOP of the issue that was key to its success in the last two elections.

President Bush and Republican congressional candidates frequently cited the fight against terrorism in the midterm campaign, trying to overcome public anger about the war in Iraq. They argued that Iraq was central to the terror fight.

More than seven in 10 questioned after casting ballots Tuesday said terrorism was important in their vote, and they divided their vote between Republicans and Democrats. In the 2004 presidential election, Bush had almost a 20-point advantage over Democrat John Kerry on handling terrorism. Republicans held a big advantage on that issue for several years after the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Among voters questioned Tuesday, Republicans were slightly more trusted than Democrats to handle terrorism.

With many voters angry at Bush and the Republican leadership in Congress, Democrats were winning the vote among several groups that have usually been very closely contested _ independents, moderates, the middle class and suburban women, according to exit polls.

Anger toward Bush was a powerful driver of Democratic gains: Three in 10 voters said they felt angry toward the Bush administration; more than twice the number who felt enthusiastic, according to a national exit poll of 12,878 voters conducted for The Associated Press and television networks by Edison Media Research and Mitofsky International. Results for the full sample were subject to sampling error of plus or minus 1 percentage point, higher for subgroups.

By comparison, in the 2004 exit polls as many voters were enthusiastic as angry toward Bush.

In the exit polls, people leaving voting booths in selected precincts around the country are asked by interviewers to fill out a confidential questionnaire to learn how they voted and why.

A dozen years after Republicans won the support of middle-class voters, that group came home to Democrats. The middle class leaned heavily toward the GOP in the last two elections.

Among white voters, Democrats and Republicans split the vote for the House _ four years after the GOP dominated the white vote. And three-fourths of Hispanics backed Democrats and a fourth backed the GOP _ a step backward after Republicans wooed Hispanics during the last few years.

For some voters, it was important to have a balance of power in Washington.

Norman Moore, 70, a retired editor from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., decided to vote for Democratic Senate candidate Harold Ford Jr. about two or three weeks ago. "I do think Democratic control of Congress would put the brakes on this administration," he said.

Those most concerned about scandals and corruption _ about four in 10 of all voters _ were far more likely to vote Democratic. Most white evangelicals said corruption was very important in their vote and almost a third of them voted Democratic.

Four in 10 said they were voting to oppose Bush, almost twice the number who voted to back him.

Gwen McIntosh, 56, of Cincinnati, is a registered Democrat who voted a straight Democratic ticket.

"I know Ken Blackwell (the Republican gubernatorial candidate in Ohio), and I thought about crossing over on that one, but I decided I would stick with the Democrats," McIntosh said. "I think in the back of my mind I probably was voting against Bush."

Congress' job approval was a little worse than the president's. But GOP congressional leaders were less likely to be the target of voters' anger _ about a fifth of voters were mad at them, compared with nearly a third who were angry with Bush.

Besides in-person interviews Tuesday, the survey included 1,500 absentee or early voters interviewed by telephone during the past week in 10 states with heavy early voting.