Some highlights of data from exit polls conducted for The Associated Press and television networks in the Illinois presidential primary Tuesday. Numbers are preliminary.

BEST MAN FOR THE JOB

Even though it’s perhaps the first presidential race in history with a major black and woman candidate facing each other, three quarters of Democratic voters said neither race nor gender was an important factor in which candidate to choose.

NOT ENTIRELY COLORBLIND

Obama won more than nine in 10 black Democrats’ votes but also won three in five white votes. However, he split the Hispanic/Latino vote with Clinton.

CLOSING THE GENDER GAP

Obama hasn’t fared as well among Democratic women in early primaries as Clinton. But Obama got seven in 10 votes from women, including nine in 10 black women and six in 10 white women.

ALL-AGE CANDIDATE

Obama won at least six in 10 Democratic votes from every age group except those 65 and older, where he split the vote with Clinton. Republican John McCain, the 71-year-old Arizona senator, split younger GOP voters with former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, but his strongest support was among those 65 and older, where he won more than half the vote.

HE CAN CHANGE THINGS, BUT SHE HAS MORE KNOW-HOW

More then three in five Democratic voters said the most important attribute in a candidate is the ability to bring about change, with Illinois Sen. Barack Obama getting more than eight in 10 of those votes. About a fifth of voters said experience was most important and nearly nine in 10 said rival Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York had it over Obama.

COMMANDING AND UNIFYING

Disparities developed in results when voters were asked to identify the candidate who would be the best commander in chief and the best at unifying the country, regardless of how they voted Tuesday. Of those who voted for Clinton, nine in 10 said she’d be the best armed forces commander, but only eight in 10 said she’d be the best unifier. Among Obama supporters, nearly everyone believes he would best unite the nation, but about eight in 10 said he’d be the best commander in chief.

FRIENDS OF BILL AND BARACK

Seven in 10 Democrats say they have a favorable opinion of former President Clinton, but that doesn’t mean they’ll vote for his wife. Of those who like the former president, six in 10 preferred Obama and more than eight in 10 voters who have an unfavorable opinion of Bill Clinton went with Obama.

WHAT’S YOUR ISSUE?

Half of all Democratic voters say the economy is the most important issue facing the nation, compared to three in 10 who said the Iraq war and two in 10 who cited health care. Of those who listed the economy tops, Obama won more than six in 10 votes; he took more than seven in 10 votes from those who care most about the war, and two-thirds of those who cited health care, even though that issue is a hallmark of Clinton’s.

Similarly, among Republicans, four in 10 called the economy the top issue, while two in 10 cited the war. McCain won nearly half the votes among those citing the economy, while Romney took three in 10. McCain, a former prisoner of war who supported President Bush’s surge in Iraq, won three in five votes from those who consider the war the top matter, while two in 10 preferred Romney and one in 10 chose former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.

IT’S THE ECONOMY, STUPID

Only one in 10 Democrats say the nation’s economy is in excellent or good shape, while four in 10 Republicans said it’s excellent or good. Romney and McCain split the GOP vote in that category, but McCain got more than half of the votes from those who said the economy is not so good or poor.

THE REPUBLICAN WAR

More than six in 10 Republicans approve of the war, and McCain and Romney split the vote in that category. More than a third of GOP voters disapprove of the war; McCain won half those votes, with Romney taking two in 10 and Huckabee, one in 10.

LIBERALS AND CONSERVATIVES

Obama did better among moderate Democrats than in previous primaries. Liberals made up 48 percent of those casting ballots in the Democratic primary and 42 percent identified themselves as moderates; Obama took nearly seven in 10 votes from both categories.

Three in five GOP voters say they are conservative, with McCain and Romney each taking fewer than four in 10 votes from that group and Huckabee getting two in 10. But among the quarter of voters who call themselves moderate, McCain got six in 10 votes.

ENDORSEMENTS FROM THE BIG GUNS

Massachusetts Sen. Ted Kennedy’s endorsement of Obama was considered somewhat or very important by 55 percent of Democratic voters; more than three in five of those voted for Obama. Only 45 percent of GOP voters felt the same way about former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s endorsement of McCain. McCain was preferred by nearly six in 10 of those voters.