Bill Burkhammer and Carl Mealy might be surprised at how much they have in common. Though strangers, both are 52 and from Weston, and both showed up at their Lewis County High School polling place uncertain how they would vote.

Within minutes, each had cast a ballot Tuesday for Republican Sen. John McCain.

Mealy was influenced at the last minute by 21-year-old son Eric, an active Army National Guardsman who supports the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Burkhammer, who has relatives with military experience, cited McCain's status as a veteran.

"I had no clue. I was just jumping back and forth," Burkhammer said when pressed to explain why he didn't choose Sen. Barack Obama.

"The other one's good, too," he said, meaning Obama. "I just think McCain's a little more qualified."

Exit polling across West Virginia suggests that while many voters were enthused about their party's candidate, others simply chose what they saw as the lesser of two evils.

While a majority of voters said the economy was the most important issue to them, they appeared evenly split on which candidate could handle the problems better.

About a third of voters said they wanted a candidate who shared their values, and those people seemed to side overwhelmingly with McCain.

John Stewart, a 60-year-old building contractor from Fairmont, said his vote came down to his definition of morality. He likes McCain's views on abortion, gay rights and gay marriage.

"I like the system of free enterprise. I don't like mandatory unions. I just don't like any of the socialistic ideas," he said. "I cannot vote my pocketbook on that. I am a Christian, and I firmly believe I have to vote my values."

Another third of those polled said it was important the candidate be able to bring about change, and those voters appeared to align strongly with Obama.

First-time voter Zecola Hall, 27, of Clarksburg, was undecided when she entered a VFW post to vote. She left after punching in a straight Democratic ticket.

"I really think we need change," she said. "I believe John McCain is Bush's flunky, to be totally honest."

Anne Bolyard, 35, of Fairmont, said Obama represents her core values - "that our country needs to heal, that we need to come together, that there are people who are disadvantaged and marginalized. And I don't believe that should occur anymore."

Independent voters, who had registered for Tuesday's election in greater numbers than either Democrats or Republicans combined, were more likely to back McCain.

Women voted in slightly higher numbers than men, but polling showed they appeared to back McCain at the same pace as men.

"I trust McCain to keep America safe. I trust him more on the economic and financial issues, too," said Kim Baker, a 41-year-old bookkeeper and tax preparer for Morgantown.

"It actually was not that easy a decision for me," she said. "In the beginning, I thought Hillary [Clinton] was a little interesting to me, but after Hillary was out I think I pretty much decided on McCain."

Nine in 10 voters said race was not important, but that number didn't include 18-year-old Shay Waits of Fairmont, who voted for Obama.

"I love that he cares about people and he's trying to make everything better. I'm not just saying this because I'm black," she said, then paused. "OK, yes I am. I really do want a black president."

Waits also said she would have supported Clinton.

"I basically want to help poverty-stricken people because I personally know how it is to not have anything, so I want a president who will try to help people and help with the health benefits and everything," she said.

On the flip side was 91-year-old Ernie Richards of Morgantown, who said there was only one man he could support - McCain.

Why?

"Maybe because he's white," he said. "I don't know."

The exit poll of 979 West Virginia voters was conducted for AP by Edison Media Research and Mitofsky International in a random sample of 20 precincts statewide.

Results were subject to sampling error of plus or minus 5 percentage points, higher for subgroups.