4
versus explicit racial framing, the data nevertheless provide some insight into the dynamics of
racial attitudes among white voters when black candidates constitute their only choices from the
political parties.
2
Racial Attitudes and Elections
Even as respondents on surveys report less overt racism, researchers have discovered enduring
relationships between respondents’ racial attitudes and their political views. Certain political
issues, such as crime (Gilens 1996, Mendelberg 1997, Valentino 1999) and welfare (Peffley,
Hurwitz and Sniderman 1997), have long been recognized to carry racial undertones. Other
issues, such as government spending have also been linked to race in campaigns, as an even
more subtle invocation of the role of race (Valentino, Hutchings and White 2002). Candidates,
unwittingly or not, are able to stoke the quiet fires of racial attitudes by invoking these concerns.
Voters who are encouraged to think in racial terms, especially in the context of blacks in
America, can be manipulated to favor particular political ideals and candidates. The infamous
Willie Horton advertisement run by the campaign of Republican George H. Bush during the
1984 election is perhaps the best example of the role that racial cues exert on the attitudes of
white voters (Mendelberg 1997). Similarly, invoking issues with racial undertones increases
favorability scores for Republican over Democratic candidates, largely because that party is
considered to “own” the harsher stances on those issues (Petrocik 1996).
Studies of the role of race in elections have revolved mostly around the context of race
related issues, and as the racial issues of integration and affirmative action have receded from the
public agenda, other “race coded” issues have replaced them. Until the late 1970’s, this was the
main avenue for investigating race and politics. A more obvious route for race to enter into
politics is through the direct election or candidacy of non-whites. Beginning in the late 1970’s
Convention