War in Iraq third most important issue to GOP voters

Early national exit polls suggest that the economy is the most important issue to Republican voters. Interestingly, the war in Iraq is only their third-most important issue, while immigration is the second-most important. John McCain has long been cast as the war candidate or the war on terror candidate by the pundits, yet it still looks to be a very good night for him. These early exits suggest that efforts to portray McCain as against the party on immigration and ill-informed on the economy have failed.

Democrats — top issue: economy 47%; war in Iraq 30%; health care 19%.

Republicans — top issue: economy 38%; immigration 24%; war in Iraq 20%; terrorism 15%.