Hillary Wins in Texas, Ohio Built on Loyal Base

Hillary Clinton pulled off victories in both Texas and Ohio largely by wooing back her Democratic base, according to Politico. Exit polls show that Hispanics and white women favored Clinton, while blacks favored Obama by a huge margin, and white men were split—similar to Super Tuesday. But white men appeared to provide the crucial "swing vote" in Ohio with 55% going to Clinton. The candidate has picked up 15 percentage points with white women and about 20 points with white men since Wisconsin.

As usual, Obama won younger voters in Texas but more seniors voted, and they favored Clinton 2-to-1. More college-educated voters backed Obama in Texas, but the working class, which accounts for more Democrats, favored Clinton. Democrats in both states found Obama to be more inspiring, but poll results show that Clinton's criticism of his lack of experience is paying off. Economic worries also worked in Clinton's favor. Voters who see the economy as the most important issue were split, but those personally worried about their futures—a majority—leaned toward Clinton. (More Hillary Clinton stories.)