Clarion Content

not sure if you saw the mccain event where supporters shouted, "kill him" and "terrorist" in response to comments about obama.
it seems that the mccain camp is on its way to insighting a riot while obama hushes simple booing of mccain/palin during his events. i guess obama wants to keep things as positive as possible while mccain/palin are grabbing at anything in these last few weeks...
 

I don't doubt the Bradley Effect could play a role, but I'd also like to think this nation has progressed a little since 1982. Moreover, people have become more accustomed to seeing blacks in office in the last twenty-five years and more blacks are getting to the poles than ever before.

I also heard an NPR bit that cited a kind of inverted Bradley effect in Pen., where people said they would vote for Obama once in the booth, but wouldn't admit it to anyone.
 

Annaliese---I heard about, but did not see any video, of the McCain event where supporters shouted, "Off with his head" and "terrorist." Methinks the political temperature of America is nearing the boiling point.

a. Climacus---The reverse Bradley Effect! Fascinating and uplifting. I have no doubt that you are correct. America has progressed at least some since 1982 in terms of racial politics.
 

We are a shockingly violent country.I don't know if you caught this Paul Theroux essay in the LA Times, I thought he captured the tenor of the notion of violence in American politics.

How racist a country are we? I think there are differences by age, by education level and by place. One would hope we have to be less racist than we used to be, are we collectively less racist enough to elect Obama? It would be some statement to the world about the validity of dreaming the American dream.
 

One more thought, it appears to me that how the Hispanic vote will play out is an under-reported issue. Will McCain's more or less pro-immigration record help him? Will historical animosity between blacks and Hispanics hurt Obama?
 

Is it possible, that Obama's lead could evaporate on election day because of Bradley-Wilder effect? Or nowadays Americans are significantly less reluctant to vote for an African-American? Vote here - http://www.votetheday.com/america/secret-racism-will-subvert-obamas-advantage-333
 

Hey VTD-

Thanks for stopping by. At the Clarion Content we are definitely concerned about the Bradley effect. We are hoping it will be offset by the number of first time voters entering the process.

Your link got cut off a bit. Here it is again.

When I voted, 48% of the respondents were worried about the Bradley effect, 52% were not.
 

I take exception to the comment by Aaron that it would be some statement about the US that we could elect a black candidate. I will vote for a qualified candidate, not a symbol to somehow show someone how great the US is. We have no reason to apologize for our exceptional record of inclusion, opportunity, etc. We need to keep raising that level, even though it already stands head and shoulders above all those less democratic highly critical "allies".
 

Anon- The achievement for America is not that we can elect a black person. It is that a person who comes from Obama's background can be in a position to be elected in this country. Race is only an element of his background. It is not all of his circumstance. It is what people will focus on externally, and possibly stereotype, thus my fear of the Bradley effect. But I personally would prefer to focus on my feeling that it says something great about America that a person of Obama's background: modest financial circumstances, single parent home, first generation immigrant father, enlisted grandfather, goat herder grandfather, and yes, a person of his race and his church can be elected President. He is unlike the wasp son of President (Bush II) or the wasp son of an USN Admiral (McCain.) He could be a poor animist Inuit who had gone on to Harvard Law Review editor and I'd think it would say something great that America could elect a person of that background. America's history of inclusion is checkered at best.

As for Obama, he is a bright man who has already moved the country forward. I have high hopes for him in the long term.