The Link The "subtext" -- to borrow the word -- of the race-baiting charge is that if Obama should lose, then it will be because of racist white voters, who misled polling organizations by not saying that they would not vote for the Democratic nominee simply because he is black. You could not watch cable news last week without hearing about "the Bradley effect" -- a term spawned after Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley lost the California gubernatorial election to state Attorney General George Deukmejian in 1982 by one point, despite pre-election polls that showed Bradley, who was black, had a seven-point lead. But "the Bradley effect" was not the election-turning factor that some people saw. As Mark DiCamillo of the Field Poll explained, a number of factors, including a higher-than-expected turnout of gun owners, led to the discrepancy in that 1982 race. DiCamillo believes that some white voters said they were undecided even though they had decided to vote for Deukmejian, and those undecided white voters were key in the undecided pool because most black voters had made up their minds to vote for Bradley. Maybe Obamaphiles are nervous because, while they see Obama leading in the polls, they also know that over the last few decades, the American voter has demonstrated a conservative streak when it comes to the country's commander in chief. The American electorate has not bestowed more than 50 percent of the popular vote on the Democratic nominee since 1976 when Jimmy Carter won the White House for one term. Or maybe Obamaphiles do not want to let go of their race-baiting habit, despite Obama's successes. Me? I don't think that it will help Obama with undecided voters if his chorus whispers that racism lurks in the heart of the American electorate. But if they want to give McCain a hand in this contest by spreading those insinuations, well, he could use it now.
I don't agree at all. To say that race is not an issue is to be completely and utterly naive. As much as politicians love to praise middle/small town America, there's no denying the fact that race plays a huge issue in these places. Now, I'm not saying that small towns are full of racists but if you asked most people in small town/middle America if they thought it was ok if their daughters dated a black man, I think you can agree that the most common answer would be "no". This doesn't make these people racists per se, they're just not comfortable with it. This is no different than having a black president, they don't hate the black man, they're just very uncomfortable with it. I'd also like to point out that the ones to really make this an issue was the Palin camp. You don't start insinuating terrorist connections and start emphasizing "Hussein" without sliding down a very slippery slope. Do you think that these people who now think Obama is an Arab or a terrorist ever knew that his middle name was Obama before it was brought up in these rallies? No they didn't, because if they wanted to inform themselves of the real facts, this wouldn't be an issue.
Why would you vote for/against McCain or Obama because of their middle name? Kind of creepy what politics is.
My friend, you McCainiacs need to stop this nonsense. You're unhealthy zeal and idolatry of your smiley-faced garden gnome clouds your sense of reason and blinds your ability to objectively discuss the issues that matter, like who's the most American? Or, do we really know the US Constitution? What is this yellow & weathered parchment? No, Sarah, it's not an old newspaper. In short, the absurdity of oblique attacks has grown tiresome. Americans want something better.
The movie Trading Places has a scene where the wealthy brothers are losing *** in their bid to corner the OJ concentrate market. They shove their floor boy into the fray and he gets chewed up and spit out, eyes rolling in his head and mouth a jar. In the West Mall we have Mr. Wizard. 'Sell, sell sell, you idiot.'
Republicans pin their fading hopes on the Bradley Effect, while Mr. Wizard claims it is somehow a creation of the Obama campaign? The effect exists, and has been estimated at 6%, not an insignificant factor in an election which has been extremely close the last few times.
FWIW, Zogby thinks it'll be a slight net positive for Obama on election day. There's no real way to know what will happen though. 538 had in interesting take on that RCP story in the OP the link The race baiting is retarded on both sides but imagine how much better it is today than it would have been 20 years ago. Also, Obama is going to walk away with this handily.
Then there will be some voters who hate the candidates equally, but vote for Obama in hopes that it will improve race relations in this country.
