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Friday, November 07, 2008
The Bradley non-effect
According to the Knoxville News:
Obama's election triumph on Tuesday presented no evidence of the so-called Bradley effect, in which whites who oppose a black politician mislead pollsters about whom they will vote for. Instead, national and state pre-election polls were generally accurate in reflecting voters' preferences in the presidential contest.
"I certainly hope this drives a stake through the heart of that demon," Charles Franklin, a University of Wisconsin political scientist and polling authority, said of the Bradley effect.
The phenomenon is named after former Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley, an African-American who in 1982 lost the race for California governor after leading in the polls. There were similar contests over the following decade in which black candidates facing white opponents had comfortable leads in polls, only to lose or narrowly win the elections.
That's a good thing about Obama's election as president. It re-confirms my impression that stories about "the racist and sexist U.S. of A." are largely the stuff of legend and urban myth, rather than a contemporary reality.
There very well may still be areas or parts of the U.S. that racists and other slime still call home, but the claim that America is a racist country is going to need a mountain-sized amount of evidence to even be considered as anything other than a whopper.
Posted by P.M. Jaworski on November 7, 2008 in U.S. politics | Permalink
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Comments
Having lived in both countries, from my experience neither Canada nor the US has the monopoly on racism or ignorance. They are equal opportunity character traits. It was just much more overt a generation or two ago. Racist and sexist legislation, regulations, and discrimination still thrives though, but is usually disguised as anti-racist / anti-sexism necessary affirmative action aimed at "correcting" past problems.
So can all that go away now that we have arrived at the post racial era of enlightenment?
Posted by: John Chittick | 2008-11-07 6:41:03 PM
Umm, I hate to break it to everybody but the MSM was race-baiting by making up the bradley effect.
In other words, racism is alive and well and practiced by the MSM by intimating that whites are racist.
Post-racial society, my ass. The MSM finally showed their hand. We are in an anti-white racist society.
Posted by: h2o273kk9 | 2008-11-07 7:29:49 PM
Good point, water dog.
If anyone ever calls me a racist in the future I will simply look them in the eye and grate, "Obama."
Done deal, pilgrim.
(what, are you still here? the man ran on being black and had no other qualification)
Posted by: Speller | 2008-11-07 10:57:25 PM
The new Racist catch word is "Multiculturalism"
What horse shit that is too. Its a vehicle for "official racism".
Posted by: JC | 2008-11-08 2:52:58 PM
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