Race as a determinant of white vote choice in biracial election campaigns.

Abstract

Despite empirical evidence which suggests the disappearance of covert white opposition to equal opportunity for blacks and greater willingness on the part of whites to support black political aspirants (Schuman, Steeh, and Bobo, 1985; Swain, 1993; Thernstrom, 1987), black candidates are unable to attract consistent widespread support among white voters. How potent is race as a determinant of white voting behavior in electoral contests in which black and white candidates vie for white support? Second, in light of much empirical evidence that demonstrates that both campaign and media effects influence electoral outcomes, does mass media content condition and mold the electoral choices of white voters in biracial election contests? Third, in reaction to such information, is a black candidate who possesses the same qualifications and experience as a white clone evaluated any differently from the white candidate? If so, can that be attributed to racial prejudice on the part of whites? Simply stated, is race "part and parcel of the political campaign experience" as some contend? This study seeks to provide some answers to these questions. More specifically, an innovative multi-methodological research design (content analysis; secondary analysis of survey data; and an experiment embedded in a probability sample) is employed to investigate a number of interrelated hypotheses which include the following: (1) Though whites no longer exhibit overtly racist sentiments toward blacks, they, however, continue to hold negative racial predispositions. (2) The racial-framing of news content is an integral part of media coverage in biracial election campaigns. (3) Under specific racially polarized electoral campaign conditions, the interaction between whites' racial predispositions and the racial-framing of news content molds whites' evaluations of and preferences for an aspiring black candidate. The study concludes with a discussion of the theoretical, methodological, practical, and normative implications of biracial electoral competition for American electoral politics.