Evidently Lou Dobbs went off on ACORN this evening, and there seem to be many folks who are worried about this "shady" organization. Even folks who aren't fans of the manic Dobbs are worrying about the organization and its ties to Obama. These ties don't exist, according to the Obama website, and the "shadiness" of ACORN itself is an open question.
From "Fight the Smears" on Obama's Website:
"Hi everyone!
Discredited Republican voter-suppression expert Ken Blackwell has gone on TV lately with some wild accusations against Barack about a non-existent connection with the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, also known as ACORN.
The accusations have no basis in fact.
The truth is that Barack was never a community organizer or trainer for ACORN, and he was never employed by ACORN in any other capacity. ACORN was not part of the historic voter registration drive that Barack led.
Get more information and help spread the truth about Barack Obama:
http://my.barackobama.com/...
Together we can make sure these deceitful and false attacks don't affect this election.
Thanks for your help."
Ok, so that takes care of Obama. But what about the smearing of ACORN? As I understand it, this is an organization that works with and for low-income people. They pay folks to register voters, and often those who are hired have little money themselves. It's not surprising that they may turn in phony registrations to earn more money. But what I'm told is that though ACORN often reports these bad registrations themselves, they are required to turn in every registration card, even though they report that some are not legitimate. Then they consistently receive criticism from the officials for turning in phony cards.
But let's think about that: even if you register Bugs Bunny, can you bring him in to vote? The cards may be fallible, but it's not voter fraud. Voter fraud is when secretaries of state unlawfully pull voters from the rolls (as in Colorado), or don't allow registered voters to vote, or somehow have voting machines that don't register a legitimate ballot (as in Ohio?) or mislead voters (as in Florida?). ACORN is being used (as I understand it often is) as a way to generate anxiety about a liberal organization and to suggest that Barack Obama is affiliated with unsavory types. If Ayers isn't working for McCain, maybe ACORN will? Not if we get out the real story. It is enough of a smear that it appears on Obama's website, so it's time to start spreading the word.