SUNRISE, Florida – Barack Obama said on Wednesday he was not worried that his race would cost him the presidential election.
Many polls show Obama, who would be the first black president in U.S. history, with a lead of between 5 and 9 percentage points over his Republican rival John McCain. But some pundits say the so-called “Bradley effect” could occur on Election Day on Tuesday that might cause Obama to lose.
The Bradley effect is named after former Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley, who lost the California governor’s election in 1982 despite polls predicting he would win.
Political analysts believe the surveys turned out to be wrong because voters did not want to appear bigoted and told pollsters they were voting for Bradley, who was black, even when they were not.
Some pundits have suggested Obama’s unexpected loss to his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton in the New Hampshire primary election in January might have been an example of the Bradley effect.
