unlike you, I went to the study...
The team found that Democratic candidates used fewer competence-related words in speeches delivered to mostly minority audiences than they did in speeches delivered to mostly white audiences. The difference wasn’t statistically significant in speeches by Republican candidates, though “it was harder to find speeches from Republicans delivered to minority audiences,” Dupree notes. There was no difference in Democrats’ or Republicans’ usage of words related to warmth. “It was really surprising to see that for nearly three decades, Democratic presidential candidates have been engaging in this predicted behavior.”
Dupree and Fiske suspect that the behavior stems from a liberal person’s desire to connect with other races. One possible reason for the “competence downshift,” as the authors describe it, is that, regardless of race, people tend to downplay their competence when they want to appear likeable and friendly. But it’s also possible that “this is happening because people are using common stereotypes in an effort to get along,” Dupree says.
The study itself is really about language and how politicians talk to different groups. While it is interesting it is hardly revealing to know that politicians talk differently to different audiences.As you can see from the synopsis I just quoted, the bottom line is that people tend to make assumptions about an audience and tailor their approaches to meet the perceived desires of each audience. What they are saying is that some Democratic Candidates essentially dumb down their speeches when talking to minorities and emphasize warmer more friendly language. The study presumes that his is due to a subtle form of bias which may be true. All it is really telling us is the confirmation that America is indeed a nation where race and race relations factor in politics on both sides. I would argue that the same could be said of a Bostonian candidate going to a barbecue in Iowa or Texas, out comes the drawl, out comes the aw shucks and out goes the 50 dollar vocabulary.