Keeping track of all the recent Conservative attacks on poor people and their "lobby" (ACORN) is getting to be a bit of a task.
The latest "outrage du jour" involves these (oh so obviously fake) voter registration forms that a few idiots (?) decided to turn in.
A few things to consider here.....
There are several ways to explain this ACORN voter registration "controversy". The first one is obvious: Hiring someone to register people on a commission basis, although not illegal, basically provides an incentive to make up names in order to turn in as many completed forms as possible. Something like this will not effect election results unless the actual person filling out all these forms shows up to vote over and over and over. That's what a Homer Simpson caliber scam would look like; doomed to failure and guaranteed to make the culprit look like a boob. I'm sure that in the end it will be "Jimmy John's" vote (as in the midwest sandwich chain) that will decide this election (...). Mr. Burns on the other hand would purge the Michigan voter rolls of black people, and those who lost their homes to foreclosure (now there's a scam worth writing about, huh?).
The bogus registrations I saw on CNN were amateurish and obviously fake. State officials were doing their jobs by catching them and setting them aside. These registration forms however were filled out in a such a transparently stupid and pedestrian manner, that another more sinister explanation might be worth considering.
How difficult would it be for a few Republican operatives to infiltrate ACORN and pose as poor people or students in need of a temp job? And how long would it take ACORN to actually trace these fraudulent registrations to them? By the time someone actually figures out who was walking what neighborhood and what registration forms they turned in... the culprits are long gone, and good luck finding them. Damage done, P.R. stunt successful. You think ACORN is an organization with the funds to conduct thorough background checks, or verify everyones identity before they let them volunteer or get them to register voters for a dollar or two per form? They're an advocacy group for poor people; not exactly in the same league as the Energy Lobby, or the Club for Growth.
Let's not forget that in 2007-2008 a group of "Movement Conservatives" (love that term), were doing the exact same thing in California (paying people to collect signatures) while attempting to steal 22 of our state's Electoral Votes. This was the famous "Steal the State" Petition, that was illegally funded by Rudy Giuliani backer, and hedge fund giant Paul Singer. Hundreds of (mostly out-of state) Conservative operatives were unleashed on California last year, and were caught on camera paying and/or buying alcohol for homeless people in return for them signing the petition. They were also caught lying through their teeth when questioned by passers-by about what exactly this "Electoral College Reform" proposition would mean for California. Ultimately their efforts failed, because we have a vigilant Democratic base here; many of us contacted local papers, protested, and got the word out about these Conservative wingnuts and their sham petition. But these types never give up; fast forward to September-November 2008. Now it's the Mormon Church who has unleashed it's money and army of fundamentalists to try and pass Prop. 8.
The notion that ACORN is perpetrating a fraud, or is somehow involved in a grand conspiracy to tip the election to Barack Obama is beyond laughable. Stealing elections is a craft mastered by Conservatives, their corrupt State officials, and their U.S. Supreme Court appointees. No individual or organization will ever come close to damaging our democracy the way that Ken Blackwell, Katherine Harris, Jeb Bush and the 5 Justices who decided Bush vs. Gore did.
But it's much easier for Fox News and Conservatives to attack ACORN. Poor people don't have the resources to defend themselves from right-wing smears. Conservatives even managed to find a way to blame poor people for our economic collapse.... nice going fellas. There's a special place in hell waiting for people like Sean Hannity and Michelle Bachman. The ultimately irony is that Bill Ayers probably won't be joining them there.