Is The Race Card In Play In Presidential Race?

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(UNDATED) - The race card could end up being the presidential election’s wild card.

Barack Obama has now officially made history, as the first African-American to claim a major-party presidential nomination.

A Pew Research Center poll finds 5% of voters say they won't vote for a black candidate. 20% say their neighbor feels that way. IUPUI pollster Brian Vargus says at least some of those 20% are probably prejudiced themselves but trying to sound more socially acceptable.

Pollsters have dubbed the phenomenon "The Bradley Effect," after then-Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley unexpectedly lost a 1982 race for Governor of California. It's believed many voters told pollsters they'd vote for Bradley, an African-American, but did the opposite in the privacy of the voting booth.

However, some wonder if the Bradley Effect is still in play since, in 2006, Harold Ford Jr., an African American candidate for Senate in Tennessee, lost by about the margin he was down by in statewide polls at the time.

Barack Obama himself has performed similarly to his polling numbers in Democratic primary races, as well.

WBIW News contributed to this report.

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