Clinton, McCain sweep Dutchess primaries

Christine Vines Staff Writer

New York was among the 24 states to vote on Feb. 5, Super Tuesday. Both locally and statewide, Hillary Clinton and John McCain swept the New York vote.

Clinton received 10,202 votes in Dutchess County, while Barack Obama finished the night with 9,338.
On the Republican side, McCain took 6,814 of Dutchess County, Mitt Romney took 4,137 and Mike Huckabee came in third with 1,326.

Ulster County votes were similarly distributed, with 7,401 votes for Clinton and 7,012 votes for Obama. The Republican side saw a smaller turnout, but totaled 3,370 for McCain, 1,806 for Romney and 710 votes for Huckabee.

Results statewide were also similar, with Clinton taking a total of 57 percent of the vote and 40 percent going to Obama on the Democratic side. Fifty-one percent of the Republican vote went for McCain, while Romney and Huckabee received 28 percent and 11 percent, respectively.

According to a Feb. 3 WNBC/Marist Poll most New Yorkers felt Clinton was best able to handle the economy, the Iraq war and health care, while Obama embodied the best chance for “change.”

Limited voting hours and insufficient publicity kept some Dutchess and Ulster County voters from the polls. Voting began at 12 p.m. on Tuesday and ended promptly at 9 p.m. A local polling location turned away about 40 people who arrived at 6 a.m. to vote before work, as they do for local and national elections.

Despite these problems, turnout this year across the state was markedly higher than in the 2004 presidential primary. The increase can likely be attributed to the fierce competition among candidates in both political parties.

The state vote was still undecided going into the election, unlike the primary four years ago when current president George W. Bush was the only Republican nominee.

Chris Binetti ’08, who supports McCain, was pleased with the local reception that his candidate received.

“I think his moderation, foreign policy experience and bipartisanship is what is winning people over,” Binetti said. “I think moderates will come out and vote for him, and so will liberals that are conservative on foreign policy.”

Binetti feels strongly that McCain will take the nomination. “He will win in the fall as long as he does not pander to the far right. If he gives in to them, he is toast.”

While Clinton won Dutchess County, her margin was significantly smaller than expected and she lost to Obama in both the City and Town of Poughkeepsie, where Vassar is located.

“While many long-time party activists were squarely in support of Clinton, there was also an active, and perhaps somewhat unexpectedly strong campaign for Obama in the Poughkeepsie area, of which several Vassar students were an integral part,” said President of the Vassar College Democrats Alex Sheff ’08.

One such student was Mark Goreczny ’08, who volunteered part-time at Obama’s local headquarters.
“The people who worked there full-time were inspiring, dedicating so much time to this important movement,” he said. “It was great to see people from all walks of life believing in the ability of politics to bring about change.”

Goreczny had also volunteered during the New Hampshire primary.

“Coming here to work with the Poughkeepsie office solidified my belief that this is more than the typical presidential campaign,” said Goreczny, who was satisfied with Super Tuesday’s results.

“This is [Clinton’s] home state, after all, and she’s had the advantage of years of people getting to know her here, with an especially loyal following in upstate New York,” Goreczny said. “I think we did pretty well, all considered, and changed many people’s minds. I still have high hopes for Obama, especially after the recent victories in Maine, Louisiana and other states over the past weekend.”

According to the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement at the University of Maryland, young voters set records in Iowa and New Hampshire, with 43 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds voting in New Hampshire primary, a 25 percent increase from the 2004 primary. Iowa, another early primary state, saw a 13 percent increase in caucus-goers under 30 from the 2000 elections.

“In a powerful testament to the groundswell of political energy among youth voters in this year’s elections, exit polls showed that five times as many young voters, ages 18-29, voted in New York’s Democratic Primary, as voted in the 2004 primary,” he explained. “Not twice as many, or three times as many, but five times as many. This is consistent with what has proven to be an electoral earthquake the Democratic party has not seen in a generation,” he said.