SurveyUSA: Clinton, Obama dead even in Alabama

Alabama voters used to have to wait until June to vote in a presidential primary and by then it was a foregone conclusion. So this is pretty exciting. We actually have a hotly contested race going here. Woo hoo!

Survey USA has just released a poll (4.1 MOE) that leaves out Edwards and shows Clinton and Obama at 47 percent each.

And it includes some interesting breakdowns.

Northern AL votes for Hillary Clinton. Southern AL votes for Barack Obama.
Older voters back Clinton. Younger voters back Obama.
White voters back Clinton. Black voters back Obama.
Moderates back Clinton. Liberals back Obama.
Pro-choice voters back Clinton. Pro-life voters back Obama.
Registered Democrats back Clinton. Independents back Obama.
Regular church goers back Obama. Less-regular church goers back Clinton.
When all the sub-groups are totaled, today, 4 days to Super Tuesday, it's Clinton 47%, Obama 47%, a fierce fight that could go either way on Tuesday.

Some things to consider about Alabama:

The black vote here is not as large as it is in South Carolina. Alabama is about 26 percent black.

There are two main black political organizations here -- the Alabama Democratic Conference and the Alabama new South Coalition. The ADC is headed by Joe Reed, who is the vice chair of the state party and a power broker in the state. The ADC has endorsed Clinton.

The New South Coalition has endorsed Obama. It's a much smaller group that usally opposes the ADC.

Normally the ADC's endorsement is enough to carry the day in a Democratic primary. This time it obviously isn't. The Survey USA results show Obama getting 72 percent of Alabama's black vote. The Hispanic vote in Alabama (bigger than you might think) and the white vote are breaking 2 to 1 for Hillary.

And that is actually a good thing because Joe Reed is not exactly a force for progressivism in Alabama. This is the same guy who worked to try to make sure that Alabama did not elect its first openly gay state legislator. He has also argued that only blacks should represent districts that are black-majority.

So, even if you are pro-Clinton, seeing Joe Reed's influence on the wane is a step forward.

About 10 percent of the state has already voted, mostly absentee, and those support Obama 59-34.