Clear as Black and White: The Effects of Ambiguous Rhetoric Depend on Candidate Race
@article{Piston2018ClearAB, title={Clear as Black and White: The Effects of Ambiguous Rhetoric Depend on Candidate Race}, author={Spencer Piston and Yanna Krupnikov and John Barry Ryan and Kerri Milita}, journal={The Journal of Politics}, year={2018}, volume={80}, pages={662 - 674} }
Campaign advisors and political scientists have long acknowledged the benefits of ambiguous position taking. We argue, however, that these benefits do not extend to black candidates facing nonblack voters. When a white candidate makes vague statements, many of these voters project their own policy positions onto the candidate, increasing support for the candidate. But they are less likely to extend black candidates the same courtesy. We test these claims with an original two-wave survey…
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