Once again, another post on something in the media that made me perplexed.  (shocking isn't it!  :O <--- that is a shocked face!)

Yesterday and today I heard stories on U.S. polls and the 'Bradley Effect'.  Both times it was stated that there was question as to what role race would play in the election and that some are wondering if there will be a 'Bradley Effect'.  In the link above to the Wiki page on the 'Bradley Effect' it seems to me that this states that the white (or I guess, non-black in this case?) voters are not so much motivated by race as they are out of guild or fear they would be called racist by voting against the visible minority candidate.  Yet both stories used language that implied that their decision would be based on race to vote against said candidate.  A minor difference but a significant one.  If a white vote were to say there were going to vote for say, Colin Powell if he were to have ran in '96, to a pollster, then went to the ballot box and voted against him because the voter was a Democrat and did not want to vote for someone that right leaning, would be significantly different someone who is racist and would never vote for Powell simply because of his colour yet not wanting to be called out by the pollster for racism.  I mean, wouldn't it just be as easy for the racist person to say, I vote Democrat and will be voting for the Democrat candidate, in the Powell example? 

Then again their section on Barack Obama and a Reverse Bradley Effect just seemed like a mess, I could find no logic or explanation of what they are talking about there and it seemed to bounce back and forth.  Republicans would face pollster scrutiny and potential calls of racism and then vote for the black candidate?  What huh?  What does this have to do with purple monkey dishwashers.  So its important to 'appear' racist, but then go vote based on issues or whatever... buh?  Does the Bradley Effect work in regard to the 97% of black voters voting for Obama?  Or is that another 'effect'? 

Just writing about this is making me suffer from the Bradley Effect.  I am so worried about how what I think is a legitimate question about media spin and not about Obama or McCain at all really that I am about to perforate an ulcer.  I really don't care what colour either of them are, to me both are pretty uninspiring based on what they say and how I think they will lead (slight edge to Obama for being at least interesting to listen to, even if he is making the Libertarian in me want to lose myself in some wilderness for the rest of eternity.  Which of course would be a rotten idea, as I would get eaten by badgers or something). So just for the record, meh@McCain, meh@Obama, and if I wasn't Canadian I would vote for Teddy Roosevelt because his moustache kicked some hella ass.

So back to the point of this entry, when I went to look up the 'Bradley Effect' I expected to read about the racism of the voter, not an effect that reflects guilt or the fear of being labelled as racist based on the two stories I heard.  To me this is not racism, but a fear of the social stigma of being called a racist, which I guess would be racism as well in that you are treating some ethnic group differently even if you are giving that group preferential treatment.  Or is the Bradley Effect referring to both things?  Anyone have a more clean explanation of this 'effect' or is this one of those things politicians bend any way they feel like depending on the type of shoes I am wearing?  Or is this the media trying to spin something in some direction as it appeared on face value?