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John McCain has gone from frantic to outright loopy. Not content to slime Barack Obama, he’s now going after ACORN with his slime brush.
ACORN is the feisty and effective grassroots organization that is of, by, and for lower-income Americans. Over the past 30 years, its community organizers have helped low-wage working folks gain a real say in how their families are treated by politicians, bankers, developers, and other elites. The group has also become a formidable force in voter registration, going door-to-door in their neighborhoods to get people involved in their democracy. For this year’s election, ACORN has added 1.3 million new voters to the rolls.
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This has driven McCain crazy – apparently a pretty short drive for the frazzled GOP candidate. He’s mad because very few of these modest-income voters are likely to be for him, so he has taken to demonizing the group itself, claiming in ludicrous red-faced fury that these undesirables are a threat to the Republic! McCain recently huffed that ACORN is “now on the verge of maybe perpetrating one of the greatest frauds in voter history, maybe destroying the fabric of democracy.”
The supposed “fraud” is that a tiny percentage of the registration cards ACORN turned in to various state election officials contain false names, wrong addresses, etc. But – guess what? – ACORN itself has been the one to call these suspect cards to the attention of officials. So it has committed no fraud whatsoever. Besides, invalid registration cards do not constitute voter fraud, since these are mere applications to vote. Fraud only occurs when an ineligible person actually casts a ballot, which is so difficult that it practically never happens.
McCain is the one committing voter fraud here. He’s seeking political gain by falsely attacking a group of citizens who’re daring to practice democracy.
“The Acorn Story,” The New York Times, October 17, 2008.
“ACORN Nevada Office Raided,” www.washingtonpost.com, October 7, 2008.
“Acorn Replies To Questions About Role With Voters,” The New York Times, October 15, 2008.
“ACORN Responds to Senator McCain’s Desperate Attacks,” www.acron.com, October 2008.
“Right-Wing Rages Against New Voter Registrations: The ‘Purpose’ Of ACORN Is To Commit ‘Voter Fraud,’” www.thinkprogress.org, October 10, 2008.