As the primary campaign wore on, Cammie shifted to Obama -- drawn to his message and what she described as his softer tone and his concern for society's have-nots.
In a 23-year marriage, she said, it may be the first time her husband has ever won such an argument.
"He does like to point that out," she said.
Republican households were no less vulnerable to such division as the GOP sorted through its own list of presidential contenders.
But the drawn-out and souring dynamics of the Democratic primary have subtly pushed their way into domestic relationships.
"What's frustrating to him is the extent to which her campaign goes negative," said Dana Fenwick, who gave Clinton $250, compared with the $2,300 her husband, Anthony, gave to Obama. She's sticking by her candidate, whose resiliency she admires.
"I don't have the same visceral reaction to Obama that he does to Hillary," she said. "Let's just say he's very protective of his candidate -- where my candidate, part of her appeal is her wherewithal. She doesn't need my defending."
The Fenwicks found that money isn't the only battleground when it comes to politically mixed marriages.
He stuck his Obama sign on the grass strip facing the street. Then they tussled over how close hers could be without blocking his from the view of passing cars. Finally they compromised by moving both signs back on the lawn -- on opposite sides of the walkway.
Gender often seems just below the surface.
Heidi Landers of Pacific Palisades said her husband, Richard, wouldn't tell her whom he backed until she asked point-blank the day after the California primary.
"Dad voted for Obama," she said she told her daughter at breakfast, then cursed to vent her feeling of betrayal.
She said she was surprised when daughter Jordan, 21, took her side. She had expected their daughter to stand by her father.
"My mouth fell open," Landers said. "A little bit of woman power there."
Many of the husbands interviewed by The Times -- mainly lawyers, investment bankers and chief executives who support Obama -- described themselves as being magnanimous as their candidate moved seemingly closer to victory. But their wives aren't willing to concede defeat, they said.
"When you look for the other side to run up a white flag, you don't need to open up with the guns," said Obama donor M. Laurence Popofsky of San Francisco. "I think she is content to let it play out. I am content to let it play out."
