Gov. Strickland tackles ‘Bradley effect’ in Ohio

Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland, African-American himself, knows how important Ohio is to Barack Obama’s presidential campaign. That’s why he’s going around the state, talking openly about the “Bradley effect.”

The “Bradley effect” is named for former Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley, who had a surprisingly close first election after polls had him well ahead. Former Virginia Gov. Douglas Wilder had a similar situation, and the phenomenon is also known as the “Wilder effect.”

What phenomenon?

Pollsters, behavioral psychologists and political scientists are all familiar, from different perspectives about this.

People surveyed for polls, and quite clearly told their answers are anonymous, will — even if surveyed on the phone and not in person — have some leaning, on controversial topics, of either telling pollsters what they think the pollster wants to hear or what they think is the “right thing.”

The Bradley effect is one of those things.

Hardcore racists couldn’t care less about public perception.

But, people less biased, whether they would be classifiable with the word “racialist” or not, recognize that society as a whole would be condemnatory of the idea of voting against a black person just, or primarily, because that person is black.

So, they lie to the pollster.

And that’s why Strickland, who is not up for re-election this year, is out on the hustings, along with surrogates:

“I know there is a real concern out there that some people who normally would be voting Democratic might not vote for an African-American,” said Tim Burke, the Democratic chairman of Hamilton County (Cincinnati and its suburbs). “Gov. [Ted] Strickland has spoken openly about this.”

Campaigning for Obama in Jackson County in the Appalachian southeastern corner of the state earlier this month, Strickland declared, “I’m going to talk about the elephant in the room — and I'm not talking about any Republican. The elephant in the room is what everybody's thinking but nobody willing to talk about ... it’s race.”

Add that to the “Obama’s a Muslim” rumors, etc., and Strickland’s got his work cut out for him.