Candidates" Electability and Principles Divide Iowa Voters DES MOINES - Republicans appeared sharply divided between those whose top priority is defeating President Obama and those seeking someone representing traditional conservative principles and religious values, according to a poll of voters entering the Iowa Republican caucuses on Tuesday. With no Democratic caucus to draw their attention, more self-described moderates and independents joined the Republican caucuses this year, doubling their proportion over 2008. And an uptick in young voters, many of them first-time caucusgoers, benefited Representative Ron Paul of Texas. In early results, he had the support of a majority of voters under 30 and more than a third of those ages 30 to 45. By contrast, Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, won about a third of older voters. Underscoring the emergence of the Tea Party as a major force in national politics during the last two years, self-identified Tea Party supporters made up almost two-thirds of the caucus attendees. But they did not appear to favor one particular candidate over another by any large margin. Rick Santorum, the former Pennsylvania senator, received about 30 percent of their support. Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker who emerged suddenly as the front-runner a month ago but was badly damaged by a barrage of attack ads from allies of Mr. Romney, fell behind the top tier, along with Gov. Rick Perry of Texas. And Representative Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, who won a straw poll of Republican voters here in August but saw her support dwindle in recent months, was a distant sixth, reflecting a primary race of extraordinarily volatility. Like another Massachusetts politician who did well in Iowa's presidential caucuses - Senator John Kerry, who won the Democratic caucuses in 2004 - Mr. Romney drew more support than any other candidate among voters who said electability mattered most. Mr. Romney received about as much support from such voters this year as he did in 2008. But in 2008, electability ranked at the bottom of qualities Republican caucusgoers were seeking. This year, with Republicans eager to turn Mr. Obama out of the White House, a plurality of voters said it was the single most important consideration on their minds. And voters who were looking for experience gave about 30 percent of their votes to Mr. Romney. Four in 10 voters said they were attending their first caucus, and about 40 percent of them, in turn, backed Mr. Paul. Similarly, more than 4 in 10 said they made their decision in the last few days: About a quarter of these voters backed Mr. Romney, and a third supported Mr. Santorum, reflecting his recent surge in many opinion polls. Among the nearly 30 percent of caucusgoers who said that conservative principles were the quality that mattered most, 40 percent gave their support to Mr. Paul. Almost a quarter of voters said strong moral character was the quality that was most significant; more than a third of them backed Mr. Santorum. The religious complexion of Republican caucusgoers appeared much the same as in 2008, when 60 percent described themselves as evangelical Christians. But they were less like-minded on Tuesday than in 2008, when they coalesced behind Mike Huckabee, an evangelical minister and former Arkansas governor, giving him 46 percent of their vote. Evangelical Christians this year gave 30 percent of their support to Mr. Santorum and about 20 percent to Mr. Paul.