Saturday, September 20, 2008

Moment of Truth

In recent days, I’ve been hearing talk about the so-called “Bradley Effect” and its possible impact on the coming election.

In a nutshell, the theory goes that black candidates must poll higher (say by 10 points) in major elections to compensate for white voters lying to pollsters about the person they claim to support – this, to cover up for their latent prejudices, and true intention to back a white candidate on Election Day.

Perhaps naively, I dismissed talk of the “Bradley Effect,” and its possible affect on Obama’s final numbers, believing that greater concerns like the economy would trump racism in most voters’ minds – especially in swing states like Ohio and Michigan.

Then I read the following AP article, based on a Stanford University poll querying white voters, and their attitudes toward blacks in general.

And I realize it’s just one poll, but the results are not good – not just for Obama’s sake, but for the sake of ourselves as a nation.

If people choose not to vote for Obama due to his politics in November, and McCain wins, fair enough; that’s others exercising their constitutional rights.

But if this election turns out to be as close as projected, and is tipped to McCain on a racist mentality, then I will be truly ashamed of this country.

In fact, this country can go to hell.

No comments: