U.S. & World News

WASHINGTON (CBS) ― John McCain's support from Republican moderates, Hispanics and Florida's numerous older voters helped lift him to victory in Florida's GOP presidential primary on Tuesday. Mitt Romney relied on solid support from conservatives and people troubled by illegal immigration and abortion, but could not persuade voters he would guide the country out of its economic slump.

In a blow to Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, McCain led modestly among people saying the economy is the country's No. 1 issue, according to preliminary results from an exit poll conducted for The Associated Press and the television networks. 

According to early CBS News exit polls, the economy was the issue on the minds of Florida Republicans - nearly half said it was most important. Almost two-thirds of Republicans thought the economy was in bad shape. Romney had been flaunting his finance background as the perfect resume to handle declining real estate values, job losses and a plunging stock market, but nearly four in 10 of those voters were supporting McCain. McCain also had a clear lead among people saying the economy is in poor condition, while those saying it is fine flocked to Romney.

In another surprise, Romney and McCain were about evenly dividing people calling themselves Republicans, with each getting about one-third of their vote. That would mark continued progress for McCain, the Arizona senator who has been relying chiefly on independents, moderates and other groups on the periphery of the GOP for his strength. Lately, he has shown signs of appealing to party regulars.

One advantage that was not materializing for McCain was among military veterans, who were splitting support about equally between the two rivals. McCain, a Vietnam War prisoner of war, had hoped his military background would help him with that group, who were more than one-fourth of the GOP electorate.

As the two men struggled for a triumph that could provide momentum for next week's Super Tuesday voting in more than 20 states, they were dividing Floridians along generational lines. McCain had a slender edge among those 65 and older, while the two were about even among other age groups. With its vast number of retirees, one-third of GOP voters were at least 65. McCain is 71.

Nearly four in 10 conservatives were supporting Romney, while McCain was backed by about one-fourth. Underscoring Romney's appeal to the party's right, he was getting double McCain's and Mike Huckabee's support from the very conservative. Conservatives dominate Florida's GOP, comprising six in 10 voters.

Countering that, four in 10 moderates and liberals were lining up behind McCain, double the proportion backing both Romney and Rudy Giuliani. McCain also had a healthy lead among those who described themselves as independents.

Giuliani, the former New York mayor who has hinged his fading candidacy on a Florida victory, and Huckabee were failing to claim any key constituencies as their own.

Huckabee was doing no better than sharing the lead with Romney among white Christian evangelical and born-again voters, the group that propelled the former Arkansas governor to victory in Iowa's caucuses but has since drifted toward other candidates.

Highlighting Giuliani's problems, he was only sharing the lead with Romney and McCain among the small number of voters who said terrorism was the country's top issue, a setback to the man who hoped his performance after the Sept. 11 attacks on his city would boost his candidacy. He also did poorly with moderates, Hispanics, people who want a candidate with experience and those worried about the economy. Only one in 10 named him the party's likeliest winner in November.

In the state's Democratic beauty contest, seven in 10 blacks and barely one in five whites said they were backing Barack Obama. Hillary Rodham Clinton had the support of just over half of white voters, John Edwards one in five.

Hispanics were favoring Clinton over Obama by a 2-to-1 margin. All together, the racial voting patterns were similar to those in previous racially mixed Democratic contests in South Carolina and Nevada, a potentially ominous sign for Obama.

Clinton was winning easily among women and had a slight edge over Obama with men. Again this had a racial component: Clinton led Obama by about a 3-to-1 among white women, while Obama was ahead by about the same proportion among black females.

Democratic candidates did not campaign in the state because the national party was penalizing Florida Democrats for holding their primary before Feb. 5. No delegates were at stake, and the voting was essentially a popularity contest.

As for the Republicans, Romney was getting one-third of the votes of those who think abortion should be illegal, leading McCain. Romney also was backed by nearly half of those who said illegal immigration was the country's top problem, double McCain's share, though they were a small group of voters. McCain led with those who said Iraq is the biggest issue.

Hispanics make up one-tenth of GOP voters, including the large South Florida population of Cubans. McCain was getting support from half of those groups, far ahead of Giuliani, his closest competitor in that area.

About four in 10 voters said Florida Gov. Charlie Crist's weekend endorsement of McCain played an important role in their vote decision. Half backed McCain, but many also said they'd picked a candidate before Crist's announcement.

The poll was conducted for the AP and the television networks by Edison Media Research and Mitofsky International as voters exited 40 sites in Florida. The Democratic poll interviewed 1,501 primary voters, the Republican survey 1,505. The samples include 235 Republican voters and 294 Democratic voters who voted early or absentee and were surveyed in the past week by telephone. The margin of sampling error was plus or minus 4 percentage points for both parties.

(© 2010 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)