The Bradley Effect: A Look Inside

The phrase is almost taboo.  Very rarely do the words pass through the mouths of any reporter in the media.  Why?  Because no one wants to validate the existence of an election phenomenon known as The Bradley Effect.

The phenomenon is named after Tom Bradley, an african-american California politician who lost a 1982 governor race, despite leading in the polls.  The idea proposed is that Bradley's race could be attributed to the loss of the general election.  Something worth noting is that the Bradley Effect only applies to candidates belonging to any racial background other than White/Caucasian.

So how does it work?  Essentially, the idea is that a candidate can lead in pre-election polls, as well as in exit polls, but still lose the general election.  The idea behind this discrepancy is that, although people will support a candidate of another racial background, they will "secretly" not vote for them come election day. 

So should Barack Obama be worried about the Bradley Effect?  Absolutely he should.  It's no secret that he's ridiculously popular, but how many people are actually going to vote for him?  The polls like to think that Barack Obama is comfortably ahead, but polls do not account for the dreaded Bradley Effect.  Pundits have massively underplayed the aspect of race in this election, and it will be interesting to see how the election results relate to the polls.

Will the avid Obamanites ultimately vote for him, or will they be secretly voting Republican?  it's sad to think that ethnicity can alter the outcome of an election, but we can't outlaw the fact that it will probably be an issue in this election, as it has been in so many past years.