Today is my grandmother's birthday. She's 76 and doing well. I called her today to wish her a Happy Birthday. We talked about lots of things, mostly mundane day to day stuff, but eventually the conversation led to politics. My grandmother asked if I would be voting and I said yes. Then she asked if I thought McCain had a chance. I was surprised when she asked me this because we had many heated debated this summer while I was home which involved her saying their was no way in hell (her words) that she would vote for Obama and me supporting Obama. By the end of the summer, we had settled on not talking about it anymore as we were both pretty firm in our opinions.So, when she asked me this I responded by saying that no, I do not think McCain has a chance. Then she proceeded to let me know that she voted for the Vantage levi(the school that I worked for before moving to Alaska), which I thanked her for. I had called her awhile back and asked her if she would please vote for Vantage since I cannot and I am the one paying the property taxes. Anyhow, she then told me that she had voted for Obama. I WAS/AM SHOCKED!
She said that she didnt really want to vote for Obama (a black man), but couldnt bring herself to vote for McCain because he was just like Bush and that Palin is a stupid idiot (now you guys know where I get my candidness from). I think McCain's campaign is counting on the elderly people to vote for him and if my grandmother didn't, well, I think McCain is in some seriously trouble. I think that this somewhat small piece of data that just proves that Obama has this campaign pretty much in the bag.
I have read a few things here and there recently about a phenomena known as the Bradley effect. The basic gist of this is that even if a Black candidate is leading in the popular poll that they may lose in the actual voting because white people will say that they are voting for the Black candidate when they are polled because they do not want to be accused of racism, but then they actually vote for the white candidate. According to CNN, Obama is leading McCain in the polls by about 8%, but the Bradley effect could account for a 6% discrepancy. I think that my grandmothers vote may also show that the Bradley effect may not be an issue for Obama.
I just can't believe it! Go Nan!
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3 comments:
I just read back through what I wrote earlier and saw how many typos there are. Geez...I must have been distracted by how well the Packers were playing...anyhow, I dont feel like going back and fixing them all, so you'll just to deal with it!
I also heard pundits say that the Bradley affect may work in reverse this time in that many people who say they are voting for McCain may indeed vote for Obama. They just don't want to say they voted for a black man....huh? I thought we were voting for a PRESIDENT... politics is a strange game.
I voted early and for Obama.
Edna
Alisha, your grandmother gives me hope that maybe my dad will fall prey to the reverse Bradley effect---he's been running his mouth about Obama, but maybe he'll vote for him secretly. Or maybe he'll just accidentally vote that way---I'd take that too.
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