Comments on: Frustrated with ACORN

By: Editor B

Editor B — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 18:28:05 +0000

BTW in the final debate McCain accused ACORN of “maybe destroying the fabric of democracy.” I am not making this up. That’s an exact quote.

By: bullet

bullet — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 17:56:20 +0000

I agree with Civitch. I can also see an issue with ACORN’s problem, even if it’s not voter fraud.

ACORN gets most of their registrations from poor and working class neighborhoods, so more than likely the majority are for the Democratic Party. I figure the fake ones would probably skew that way, too. When the registrations make their way to election officials and get dumped, that sets up the “OFFICIALS DUMPED/DUMPING DEMOCRATIC REGISTRATIONS” conspiracy stories. If it so happens that they came from black neighborhoods, the story gets even bigger.

I’m not saying ACORN would do anything like this or such an elaborate conspiracy is possible to coordinate. But this could have been a legitimate concern if it hadn’t come to light before the election.

By: Civitch

Civitch — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 02:14:28 +0000

I agree that in the end, this is a non-issue because these fakes were never going to show up at the polls. But I think it’s valid to ask what would have happened if a pro-McCain group had submitted thousands of fake voter registrations. Surely there would have been a hue and a cry, and justifiably so.

Whatever the motives - intake workers paid per voter, or something truly sinister - any subversion of the electoral process is serious an offensive and needs to be taken seriously.

By: Editor B

Editor B — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 15:09:09 +0000

Hey Evil Angel, thanks for leaving a comment. I know the RNC is accusing ACORN of trying to “swamp the system.” I’ve been searching for news reports that the system actually is swamped, but I can’t find any. In any event, submitting thousands of bogus registrations is uncool, and ACORN should be ashamed. But I don’t think it will lead to voter fraud.

By: Garvey

Garvey — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 14:04:06 +0000

Michael’s right. In contemporary elections, losers always cry foul, and McCain is certain to lose.

By: theEvilAngel

theEvilAngel — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 13:31:20 +0000

It’s a big deal here in Indiana because it wasn’t just *one* made-up registration — it was supposedly hundreds if not thousands that were turned in to the country voter registration board. It is supposedly pressing the voter registration board’s time so much that they are having a difficult time getting legitimate voter registrations into the system.

By: David

David — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 11:39:34 +0000

The “issue” of voter fraud has been studied and shown to a) rarely occur and b) be of no significant consequence when it has. As Michael points out, it’s not like Tony Romo is going to try to vote in Nevada. So what is Fox News so upset about?

Of course, the “issue” of voter fraud is small peanuts compared to the issue of a corrupted electoral process and the disenfranchising of voters.

So this ACORN deal is a big distraction from what’s really going on. At best, Fox News is projecting. At worst, they’re propagandizing their audience.

(The answer is the latter.)

By: Michael Homan

Michael Homan — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 02:22:59 +0000

Keep in mind that because McCain is polling poorly, much of this whole ACORN thing is being set up as a scapegoat. Tony Roma and other Cowboy players won’t vote in the end, and what evidence do we have that ACORN and not some Republican operatives registered them? When Obama wins, they’ll say there was voter fraud. It’s the same thing they did with Palin and the VP debate.

Plus, god bless the volunteers. They don’t have much to do with ACORN, they just wanted to help.

By: Frank Schiavo

Frank Schiavo — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 20:17:20 +0000

The ACORN coverage on FoxNoise relates more to their connection to Candidate Obama and an attempt my the RNC and FoxNoise to smear him/reveal him…depending on if you are going to vote for or against him. So far for me it is a temptest in a tea-pot, but given the ugly animosity the pundits..and talking points by candidates such as Gov. Palin…all ove the mass media now the way it is whipping up it could be a bigger noise in the last few weeks of this campaign.

By: Frolic

Frolic — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 19:01:03 +0000

Yeah, the voter fraud stuff just seems like small potatoes and more likely to hurt ACORN. It’s not like these fake people will show up to vote.

The group does seem to have some serious corruption, though, judging from this article:

http://blog.nola.com/tpmoney/2008/10/acorn_dirty_laundry_to_be_aire.html

How does a group serving the poor lose a million dollars and not notice?