When Barack Obama was running for President in April of 2008, slightly more than a third of the adults in the US thought that the vision of Martin Luther King Jr. as outlined in his “I Have a Dream” speech, had been fulfilled.  Just before Obama was sworn in as President in January of 2009, the perception that the King vision had already been fulfilled had swelled to nearly half of all adults in the US.  Perceptions of African Americans improved dramatically during this period increasing 30 points to 65% between April 2008 and January 2009.

But now, according to a recent Washington Post poll (August 2011), the election time gains have been entirely wiped out and people today are substantially less likely than at inauguration time, to perceive that the vision of Dr. King has been fulfilled.  In fact, the current percentage of African American reporting fulfillment has dropped back to its pre-Obama election level. Disappointingly, the decline among whites is even greater, with fewer whites today than pre-Obama election time (April 2008), considering the MLK vision fulfilled.

It is important to keep in mind how the question is asked in these polls:
"Martin Luther King gave his famous 'I Have a Dream Speech' at a civil rights march in Washington in 1963.  In your view, do you think the United States has fulfilled the vision King outlined in that speech, or don't you think so?:"  

The question essentially asks people to indicate their perception of vision fulfillment by responding either “fulfilled” or “not fulfilled.” It neglects to check whether people answering the question had an accurate understanding of the vision outlined within the “dream“ speech.  However, we know that peoples’ perceptions of reality, regardless of their factual knowledge, does matter (especially in election years) and are related to public sentiment. 

Optimism that the vision will eventually be fulfilled has also deteriorated—especially among African Americans.  A follow-up question in each of the polls conducted by CNN and now the Washington Post, asks people who did not believe that the vision had already been fulfilled, to indicate whether or not they thought it eventually would be attained. 

It is disheartening to see that adults in general are less optimistic today  than in April 2008 (avg. 15% less).   Furthermore, optimism among African-Americans, which had grown to 84% as inauguration time approached, dropped precipitously to 48% by the 2011 poll, - far below the 63% level reported in the pre-Obama election poll of 2008.  
One might wonder what is going on here?  Were the observed inauguration time increases in perception and optimism about King’s vision fulfillment simply artificial and spurious or were they real but perhaps ephemeral?   One may argue that the increases were artificial and merely an artifact produced by the overall raised level of expectations and “hope” associated with the Obama campaign and its messaging.

On the other hand, as Michael Fallig, Ph.D., SVP GfK CRNA has suggested: “It could also argue that the actual election results provided sufficient evidence to raise peoples’ perception and optimism about fulfilling Dr. King’s vision of better racial relations.  But events and policy decisions that took place after the election were more powerful factors that led people to reassess and change their earlier perceptions and optimism about the US having the capacity to fulfill the vision. 

Until evidence suggests otherwise, let us assume that the election of Barack Obama did have a positive and real impact on peoples’ perception and optimism about Dr. King’s vision.  However, let us also assume that events and/or policy decisions that took place post-election altered or moderated peoples’ perceptions as well as the relative strength of the election’s impact on perceptions and optimism about equality. 

Think about the events that might have more impact than the election: The tanking economy, home foreclosures in the news - hitting some communities harder than others, the nasty and confrontational debate over healthcare -- that appeared to have overtones of racism, the country’s continued high unemployment rate – punctuated by the increased disparity in African American vs. white joblessness, the negative feelings about the leadership role of the US – highlighted by our mediocre to poor global math and science rankings and stories in the news about the lack of support for public education funding and for unions that have their share of African American members.  The above might all be powerful contributors to the reduction in perception and optimism about the vision of racial equality espoused by Dr. King in his unforgettable speech.

A third argument could also be made: One might say that the policies of the President and this administration or the lack of success that the administration has had with moving forward with his grand agenda, has led people to call into question the capacity of the President and his policies to move the US forward.  If his policies are stalling, if there is no improvement in joblessness as an example, it is entirely possible that despite the positive role that his election has played in the perception that racial relations have moved forward, these lack of successes signal a stalling of progress and may reduce peoples’ perceptions and optimism that that Dr. King’s vision about racial relations in the US is attainable.

We know that Martin, despite running a strong challenge - was soundly defeated yesterday by Saxby Chambliss.  There's been some discussion about what helped Saxby.

I wanted to add to the discussion that the GA GOP sent out a mail-in absentee ballot and most rural voters just filled that ballot out and sent it into the Sec. of State's office.

I did not see any equivalent move on behalf of the GA State Dem Party (which is still very weak).  Given that all turnout was down - I wonder aloud if that ballot contributed to Saxby's increased margin of victory .

There's more...

Saxby has won his second term as a senator. I thought I'd share my perspective on the matter, as someone who lives in Georgia  - in fact, Cobb County - where the GOP is supposedly strongest.

Saxby won this seat alright, by bringing in people from Alaska. Arizona.  New York. Every extra dollar in the GOP fund was handed to him. And then, Saxby won his own Senate seat during arguably the worst six years that conservatism has ever faced - with the most amount of money ever spent in the history of the GOP - by spending even more money in shadow groups that took out major campaigns on his behalf.

Saxby rained money down on this election to make sure he can take more money from lobbyists and do their will. Saxby stood on stage with Sarah Palin. And Sarah Palin stood on stage with Saxby. The 134 lobbyists that worked for Sarah Palin during the election were not on stage, but they were making sure she had some really nice suits, I bet.

But here's my quiet perspective.  He didn't really win. In this reddest of red states,  with all the star power they could muster - Saxby still lost more than 40 percent of the vote to a Democrat that had such a horribly underfunded campaign that in the early days of this election cycle he was literally being outspent by Saxby ten dollars to every one.

Jim Martin rocketed up to Saxby not because of blacks vs. whites, or straight ticket voting - Martin gained his 27 points because Jim Martin understands that Georgians want better healthcare - and Jim Martin actually opposed all the spending that Saxby rubber stamped. Jim gained leaps and bounds on Saxby and damn near almost threw him out of the senate because Saxby was and still is out of touch. Saxby "Mr. I don't know what a recession is" did what he promised to do. He went to the Senate to be a rubber stamp for George W. Bush. And despite his token opposition to immigration reform and a couple of other good photo opportunities, he made good on that promise. He went along with the president.

And Now, Saxby is going to be there to make sure the Senate has a paid vacation option they call the "filibuster" - and that the GOP that got us into all of this mess, can be around to block real reform. And they will. Belive that they will. Saxby will fight Obama tooth and nail. Because Obama doesn't mean lobbyist. And because the lobbyists don't have anyone else left now that the Bush republicans are almost all thrown out on their ears. So what have we really got? Well, lets see.. hmm...

Saxby is a good golfer. He's almost in the top ten best golfers of the Senate. Think he's almost a ten handicapper. And thats on some pretty good courses where the lobbyists just happen to show up on the golf course and pay the greens fees. 200.00 a round golf.

So at least , you know. Being here in Georgia. At least I've got that going for me.

There's more...

(cross-posted from DKos)

Jim Martin is a terrific candidate and it is thrilling that we have this second opportunity to replace the despicable Saxby Chambliss with a forthright, intelligent, experienced progressive. I'd like to encourage everyone who'd like to know more about Senator Chambliss' atrocious record to visit this site explaining his platform (www.saxby-chambliss.com). After you read up on Chambliss' voting record, refresh your memory of his campaign trickery with this video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKFYpd0q9 nE). And after your ire has been replenished, take advantage of this information on how you can help Jim Martin.

To start making calls now, visit: www.my.barackobama.com/call4martin

To organize a phonebank with paper call lists, sign up at: www.nationalfield.org/phonebank

Most importantly, Jim needs more volunteers on the ground. If you are interested in going to Georgia and joining Jim's team, email the campaign at: volunteer@martinvictory.com

Jim will need all the help he can get to push back against the distortions of his record that Chambliss and his Senate Repug pals are spouting on local ad buys and national media. Jim's campaign site is here (www.martinforsenate.com) and his ActBlue page is here (http://www.actblue.com/entity/fundraiser s/19359).
IF YOU ARE IN OR NEAR GEORGIA, please find some time to knock on doors, call voters, and get Obama and Martin supporters to the polls on December 2. Early voting begins this week, and I will update this diary with the most comprehensive link to this information that I can find. Of course, I welcome tips and helpful links in the comments.
This is our kind of candidate. Run-offs are usually low-turnout elections, and must be won on the ground. Let's prove one more time this year what the power of the netroots can do to change the shape and character of our government. Let's put Jim Martin in the Senate.

There's more...

The main reason I'm a Democrat is that Republicans have a sorry record on education.  I'm a teacher candidate at the University of West Georgia and teaching has been a passion of mine for a long time now.  With all this talk about Sen. Obama's "wealth redistribution" tax plan I can't help but think of Sen. McCain's own plan to redistribute wealth:  vouchers.  Vouchers are when the government gives YOUR tax dollars to someone so they can go to a private school, completely unaccountable to you, the taxpayer.  While this is just one of the many flaws of No Child Left Behind (which Sens. McCain and Chambliss support) it's obnoxiously hypocritical for someone to complain about wealth redistribution while at the same time supporting vouchers.

There's more...