To: Interested Parties
From: Perspective LLC and Zata|3 Consulting
Date: 1/25/2011
Re: Statewide Survey of African American Voters in Mississippi

We are pleased to provide you with the first in a series of periodic reports on the opinions of African American voters in Mississippi. African American voters are frequently underrepresented in public opinion surveys and often misinterpreted in public discourse and dialogue.  Our goal is to shed light, gain and share insights and inform public policy and opinion makers of the opinions of this important segment of our electorate. The survey instrument was jointly developed by Pamela Shaw and Brad Chism. We also underwrote the cost of the research.  This survey was not conducted on behalf of any candidate or organization.

Methodology: IVR survey technology was used to complete 600 surveys on January 19^th and 20^th, 2011.  All respondents were pre-screened as African American registered voters.  The survey results were gathered from each of the four congressional districts in proportion to the African American voter concentration in the state.  CD1: 18%; CD 2: 44%; CD3: 23%; CD 4 15%.  The survey has a margin of error of 4.0%.

Survey Highlights:

• Better Days Ahead! 57% of African Americans believe that Mississippi’s best days are ahead —whether in spite of or because of the difficult history of our state.  The remaining African Americans are almost equally divided among those less pessimistic and those unsure about the future of the state.
• Optimism about Personal Financial Situation.   In spite of an unemployment rate that is about double the rate of White Mississippians, 59% of African Americans in the state expect their own personal financial situation to be better a year from now.  We surmise that African Americans believe things have to get better because they can’t get much worse.
• A Barbour Presidency.  After seven years of life under a Haley Barbour administration, 59% of African Americans in Mississippi say the Governor is not qualified to be President of the United States. 24% agree he is qualified but not their choice for the White House. Only 17% of African Americans in Mississippi say they might consider voting for Barbour.
• Ambivalence about Voter ID. At this early stage in the debate, this historically hot button issue has not permeated the consciousness of African Americans.  Only 23% currently oppose the Amendment.  The rest are about equally divided between those who don’t have enough information to form an opinion and those who support the Amendment.
• Appreciation for an Obama Presidency. By more than a 4:1 margin, African Americans believe their quality of life is better under Obama than it would have been with a Republican president.  Yet almost one third of African Americans in Mississippi are unsure and 13% feel they would have been better off with a Republican president.
• A Different Democrat in the Whitehouse. Only 8% of African Americans in Mississippi believe their lives would have been better with a different Democrat in the Whitehouse.  Still, 40% feel it would have been about the same with a different Democrat.
• No Love for the GOP. African Americans in Mississippi disapprove of the Republican Party by more than a 3:1 ratio.
• Tea Party Suspicions. For those African Americans in Mississippi who have an opinion about the Tea Party, the disapproval is even more intense than for the Republican Party. However about one third of survey respondents don’t know much about this new political force in Mississippi.
• Loyalty to the Democratic Party. African Americans in Mississippi approve of the Democratic Party by a healthy 5:1 margin.

The detailed findings of this report begin on page 3.  We include cross tabs by age, gender and congressional district to aid in further analysis of the data. We caution readers that opinions on nearly all these questions are likely to shift as the political year heats up in Mississippi.

About IVR Surveys. Independent analyses from publications such as the Wall Street Journal, National Council on Public Polls, American Association of Public Opinion Research, Nate Silver’s FiveThirtyEight.com, and The Pew Research Center all show automated, recorded voice surveys used to record candidate preferences have an accuracy level comparable to live interviewer surveys.

About The Survey Sponsors.    Perspective, LLC is a joint venture between Pamela Shaw and Zata|3 Consulting.  Pamela Shaw is a Mississippi-based government relations consultant serving progressive clients in the mid south. Zata|3 Consulting is a Washington, DC-based advocacy firm serving Democrats and progressive causes across the United States. Zata|3 clients in Mississippi include candidates seeking federal, state and local elections.   Brad Chism is the partner in charge of this project for Zata|3.  The company website is www.zata3.com.

For more information, contact:

Pamela Shaw - shawpamela at bellsouth dot net - 601.316.0176

Brad Chism brad at zata3 dot com - 202.386.6024