Oh that pesky war
: The AP exit polls say the war won Jersey for Kerry. And I thought it was Bruuuuuce.
Opposition to the Iraq war, and dismay over its course, helped John Kerry capture New Jersey’s 15 electoral votes, according to an Associated Press exit poll.
About half of those casting ballots in the state and nation Tuesday said they opposed the war, and the Massachusetts senator got nine in 10 of their votes in New Jersey, the poll found. A solid majority of New Jersey voters also thought that the Iraq war is going badly, and about four in five of them voted for Kerry.
However, terrorism was also an important issue in New Jersey, which lost nearly 700 residents in the Sept. 11 attacks. It was cited as the top issue for about one-fourth of state voters, and more than four in five of them chose President Bush.
At the same time, many Kerry supporters were lukewarm about the candidate: about 40 percent said their vote for president was mainly against his opponent, a feeling shared by just one in eight Bush voters.
And who says we’re atypical in New Jersey? Those sentiments will likely be reflected across the country.
