Are folks telling pollsters one thing and planning to secretly vote another?!
That’s the secret fear of the Obama Campaign — the so-called dreaded Bradley Effect.
The fear dates back to a California governor’s election 26 years ago when black mayor of Los Angeles Tom Bradley led in the polls against George Deukmejian, a white man – and then lost by a narrow margin!
Obama has led in polls against John McCain in national poll surveys for the past month by an average of 7 percentage points but the Democratic campaign is terrified that a secret taint of racism persists – one that prompts potential voters to lie to pollsters they’ll vote Bam but secretly plan to pull the lever for J-Mac!
Many scientists and political pundits dismiss The Bradley Effect as an urban legend but still, if there’s a problem in polling accuracy the issue may not be the mathematics involved but in the deepest recesses of human xenophobia – fear of the outsider.
Expect the "maverick" McCain camp to pull out all stops today to show just who the true outsider is – his Democratic rival.
