Deracializing Obama: White Voters and the 2004 Illinois U.S. Senate Race

Abstract

Using the unique circumstances of the 2004 Illinois U.S. Senate election, we report findings from survey data from a probability sample of White voters conducted in Illinois during the course of the 2004 election. In an experimental manipulation embedded in the survey, we tested four distinctive framings of Barack Obama by systematically altering the degree and content of his racialization as a Black man, and observing the effect of these treatments on evaluations of Obama. We hypothesize that more strongly racialized framings that highlight Obama’s identity and connection with African Americans would push White voters toward more unfavorable evaluations of the candidate in comparison with deracialized framings. In addition, we argue that party identification has an important moderating influence on the relationship between the racialized treatment and respondents’ evaluations of Obama.