The 'Bradley effect' myth

Much has been said and written in recent weeks about the so-called Bradley effect, the supposed phenomenon of white voters who secretly harbor racist animosity toward black candidates but who are too embarrassed to admit that to pollsters and thus lie about whom they intend to support. The effect is said to have lulled then-Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley into complacency in his 1982 run for governor of California, and to have produced misleading poll results that suggested Bradley would win. Instead, he lost by 1 percentage point, about 100,000 votes.

November 4, 2008