The day before the election, Obama enjoys roughly a 10-point lead in most national polls. McCain supporters hope, while Obama supporters worry, that these poll numbers do not reflect the so-called “Bradley Effect”, where a respondent tells the pollster that he will vote for a black candidate, so as to not appear racist, but in the privacy of the voting booth, can’t bring himself to vote for the black guy. In this election, however, the Bradley Effect will be more than offset by the Yeldarb Effect, and racists will flock to Obama in unprecedented numbers on Tuesday.

In case you’re a bit slow, “Yeldarb” is “Bradley” spelled in reverse. This year, there will  be a reverse Bradley Effect - the “Yeldarb Effect” - where a racist tells the pollster that he will not vote for the black guy, but in the privacy of the voting booth, he will pull the lever for Barack Obama. Why would a racist do this?  

Well, imagine the conversations an open racist has been having with his friends and family for the past year or so. “Who does this nigger think he is, running to be president?” “Does this nigger think he can tell us what to do?” “Niggers are too stupid to be the president.” After talking this way, how can he possible admit to others that in the wake of the economic crisis, he changed his mind? He can’t. When you say stupid, racist crap all the time, you don’t have the luxury of sounding rational and reasonable without calling into question everything you’ve ever stood for. The racist has boxed himself in. He created a certain image of himself – a proud white man intent on maintaining his superiority over lowly blacks. To openly acknowledge that you will vote for a black can only mean that you are disavowing everything you ever stood for, that you’re a traitor to your race, or that you’ve lost your mind.  

In addition, he doesn’t want to be seen as a “nigger lover” by his racist friends and family. They will mock him relentlessly about it. They will ask him if he also wants to play, work, and live with “niggers” too. They will joke about how his daughter will have sex with big black men. See, this is way too much for a narrow-minded racist to handle. It’s much easier for him to just pretend that he will not vote for Obama no matter how much he really wants to.

Now imagine him in the privacy of the voting booth. Is he going to go with the out of touch old white guy with 8 houses and 11 cars who doesn’t seem to know anything about fixing this broken economy? Or will he vote for the guy who has fresh ideas and specific plans that will make his life better, even if that candidate happened to be black? Obviously not all, but many racists will vote intelligently and go with Obama.

Already, there are numerous instances of avowed racists who have openly spoken about voting for Obama. They actually have told reporters, canvassers, and pollsters, “We’re going to vote for the nigger.” It’s astounding in many ways, but it’s true. There is a movement among racists to vote for Obama.

When you think about it, it’s not really all that shocking. Peer pressure can be a powerful thing. When everyone else on the playground is bullying one kid, it’s easier to go along and join in the bullying rather than standing up to it. When all your friends look down on the nerdy smart girl, it’s hard for you to ask her out even if you really like her. We all know that people often do bad things when no one is watching. But sometimes, when no one is watching, and we are free from the expectations of our peers, we do the right thing. In this election, in the privacy of the voting booth, when shielded from the expectations of his or her community, many racists will vote for Barack Obama.