From Political Wire:

Interesting research from political scientists Christopher Stout and Reuben Kline: "Looking at Senate and Gubernatorial candidates from 1989 to 2008 (more than 200 elections in over 40 states), we analyze the accuracy of pre-election polls for almost the complete universe of female candidates and a matched sample of white male cases. We demonstrate that pre-election polls consistently underestimate support for female candidates when compared to white male candidates. Furthermore, our results indicate that this phenomenon -- which we dub the Richards Effect, after Ann Richards of Texas -- is more common in states which exhibit traits associated with culturally conservative views of gender issues."

For the full story, please visit http://politicalwire.com/archives/2011/09/21/polls_underestimate_support....