The national exit poll is the Fix's favorite set of numbers of election night. It tells us the shape and attitudes of the electorate better than any other data set out there
We scanned through it and jotted down five important — at least to us — takeaways with the caveat that these remain preliminary findings. You can check out the full national exit poll in this awesome interactive chart.
1. Roughly 6 in 10 voters said that the economy was the top issue deciding their vote. Of that group, Romney is taking 52 percent to 46 percent. If this election is a straight referendum on the economy, then these numbers look very good for Romney. But it may not be just that.
2. Party identification nationwide is 37 percent Democrat, 33 percent Republican and 30 percent independent. That's a D+4 edge that would be roughly the mid-point between 2008 (D+7) and 2004 (even party ID).
3. President Obama is winning women, who comprise 53 percent of the overall electorate, by 10 points. If that margin holds, it will be slightly higher than preelection polling suggested but still less than than the losing margin for John McCain (13 points) and George W. Bush (11 points) among women.
4. Young voters are coming out — big time. At the moment, 18-29-year-olds comprise 19 percent of the electorate and Obama is winning them by 22 points. That would be higher than 2008 (18 percent) or 2004 (17 percent). If those numbers hold, that's one of the big takeaways from the 2012 election.
5. Republicans have a major Hispanic problem. Latinos are 10 percent of all voters nationwide and Obama is winning them by almost 40 — yes 4-0 — points. Given the growth in the Latino population over the past decade, Republicans simply can't afford to lose the Hispanic vote that badly and remain a viable national party.
