The Washington Post today (I cant find it online) analyzes exit polls of the voters in Indiana, and some of the results should give Democrats pause.Whites voted 60-40 for Clinton, blacks 90-8 for Obama. Voters between 18 and 29 voted for Obama 61 to 39; those between 30 and 44 voted for Obama 56-44. Clintons majority she owes to voters between 45 and 59 (52-47) and over 65 (66-34) There is a big generation-gap here, it seems.Voters with no college degree went for Clinton 53-47; those with a college degree for Obama 56-44).At the end, voters were asked for whom they would vote if the choice in November were between Clinton and McCain: 73% for Clinton, 17% for McCain. If the choice were between Obama and McCain, the results were Obama 69%, McCain 19%. For both nine percent said they would not vote.But when the same question was broken down between supporters of Clinton and supporters of Obama, here was the startling result: Of Obama supporters, 59% said they would vote for Clinton, 21% for McCain; Of Clinton supporters, 48% said they would vote for Obama, and an astonishing 33% said they would vote for McCain. For both, seventeenpercentsaid they would not vote.It looks as if it is the present Obama supporters who would retain their party loyalty if Clinton were nominated, whereas a full third of present Clinton supporters would desert the party for John McCain. And look at how many would stay home on election day.

Rev. Joseph A. Komonchak, professor emeritus of the School of Theology and Religious Studies at the Catholic University of America, is a retired priest of the Archdiocese of New York.

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