Hillary backers want a continuation of the Obama presidency

WASHINGTON — Hillary Clinton faced a Democratic electorate Tuesday that was looking for a seasoned candidate to solve problems and continue President Obama’s legacy — a stark contrast with fed-up Republican voters who wanted an outsider.

Eight out of 10 Democrats favored experience over outsider status, according to exit polls, while just 16 percent favored an outsider.

Clinton, the former secretary of state, has repeatedly stressed her government résumé and ability to get things done, whereas Bernie Sanders has run an insurgent campaign and called for a political “revolution.”

Even as she tacked left to compete with Sanders, Clinton’s views appeared to be in better sync with those Democrats who went to the polls Tuesday.

Six in 10 voters in Southern states said Clinton’s positions on the issues are about right, compared with four in 10 for Sanders.

Sanders’ views fit better in Vermont and Massachusetts, which also held primaries Tuesday.

Clinton’s Southern “firewall” was built on states with a dramatically different racial composition than Iowa and New Hampshire, the two states that got her campaign off to rocky start.

According to exit-poll information from ABC, black voters made up 47 percent of the electorate in Alabama, 46 percent in Georgia, 29 percent in Tennessee, 26 percent in Arkansas, and 24 percent in Virginia.