Memo To Mickey Kaus: If you don’t know…Just Ask

Much has been brought up about Mickey Kaus and his obsession with the Bradley Effect.

Black Bradley Effect? Noam Scheiber has speculated that black voters might tell pollsters one thing and do another in the South Carolina primary, just as (it’s theorized) white voters did in New Hampshire:

Is it possible that some black voters would tell pollsters they support Hillary (or that they’re undecided) because they don’t want to sound like they’re voting mainly out of racial solidarity, even though they actually intend to vote for Obama?

He could be right! But what if this black Bradley Effect operates in the other direction–black voters tell pollsters they are going to vote for Obama (because they feel that’s expected of them) and then vote for Hillary or Edwards? In other words, they behave exactly like the white voters in the Standard Bradley Effect. That would take some of the sting out of the implicit charge of “racism” that always lurks underneath the Bradley Effect, no? … Of the two possibilities, I’d guess the latter is more likely. Are African-Ameican voters really worried that they’ll “sound like they’re voting out of racial solidarity”?** I’d think fear of being considered a self-hater or Oreo (or practitioner of “middleclassness“!) looms larger in most black communities, unfortunately. But I don’t know. … P.S.: Of course, it’s possible neither effect will materialize, and it’s also possible they will cancel each other out. …

Mickey, if you actually TALKED to Black folk, you would know that POLLS DON’T ASK US ANYTHING.

And if they did call us, we wouldn’t answer because we all have caller ID.