John McCain and ACORN

JOHN McCAIN to ACORN: "You're What Makes America Special"

A few weeks ago, House Republicans screamed bloody murder when it appeared as if ACORN would benefit from the bailout bill, although McCain, President Bush and House Republicans have supported legislation with similar provisions before and they spent billions on the Road Home project, which contracts with ACORN to help provide housing for Katrina refugees. (You can't say...ah, but ACORN wasn't suspected of doing anything bad earlier... you can't say that because ACORN has been doing what ACORN is accused of doing for several cycles now.)

In 2008, of course, ACORN has become a stand-in not only for the registration fraud allegations, but also for the coincident insinuations that Sen. Obama and his liberal allies are trying to steal the election in battleground states. Indeed, because "ACORN" has become a national political issue, it will be hard for Republicans to use it as a political wedge issue. Once an attack is associated with a party, it doesn't become an attack; it becomes part of party dogma and can service only party activists.

What they are NOT TELLING YOU, is that ACORN employs over 13,000 people to register voters. They are not paid by the registrant, but at $8 per hour. ACORN is required by law to return ALL CARDS SUBMITTED by their employees. ACORN reviews the submissions and notifies the state of those that appear suspicious. In the case of one person being registered 73 times, it was ACORN who blew the whistle.

And remember, we are talking about voter registration irregularities, NOT VOTER FRAUD. It would be virtually impossible for anyone to vote on multiple occasions.

McCain had no trouble fraternizing with ACORN in 2006 when their political interests coincided with his as to immigration reform. Now, his campaign is writing e-mails in his name bashing ACORN as a tool of the Obama machine.

"We need your help to ensure a fair and honest election. Already we have seen nationwide voter registration fraud by ACORN - a group closely linked to Barack Obama," one e-mail from "The McCain Legal Team" says.

McCain Stands with ACORN in 2006

WHO IS ACORN?

ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, is the nation's largest community organization of low- and moderate-income families, working together for social justice and stronger communities.

Established in 1970 (when Obama was 8 years old), ACORN has grown to more than 350,000 member families, organized in 850 neighborhood chapters in over 100 cities across the U.S. and in cities in Argentina, Peru, Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Canada.

ACORN's accomplishments include successful campaigns for better housing, schools, neighborhood safety, health care, job conditions, and more.

ACORN members participate in local meetings and actively work on campaigns, elect leadership from the neighborhood level up, and pay the organization's core expenses through membership dues and grassroots fundraisers.

ACORN has constantly challenged the traditional notions of what a community organization is, and its family of organizations includes two radio stations, a voter registration network, a housing corporation, and several publications.

BARACK OBAMA AND ACORN

• Fact: Barack was never an ACORN community organizer.
• Fact: ACORN never hired Obama as a trainer, organizer, or any type of employee.
• Fact: ACORN was not part of Project Vote, the successful voter registration drive Barack ran in 1992.

In his capacity as an attorney, Barack represented ACORN in a successful lawsuit alongside the U.S. Department of Justice against the state of Illinois to force state compliance with a federal voting access law. For his work helping enforce the law, called “Motor Voter,” Barack received the IVI-IPO Legal Eagle Award in 1995. (For more about Barack’s career, check out our Obama bio.)