ACORN

[Anonymous]

Acorn hired ex-cons and some apparently poorly-trained folks to register people to vote. Bad judgment? Yes. Fraud on Acorn's part? No.

Until somebody demonstrates that Acorn actually instructed its registration folks to make up names and register people multiple times, you can't pin it on them. Yes, on their maybe sad-sack workers. But not on the Acorn organization.

Acorn is indeed annoying, and an easy target. But building them up into a threat to democracy just seems desperate.

[Anonymous]

Doesn't ACORN have a responsibility to supervise the people they hire to do this?

And if ACORN is such a sorry group of folks, why did Obama hire them to get out the vote/register voters/whatever cause du jour they are using now? I know, NO check to ACORN, just their subsidiary.

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:Doesn't ACORN have a responsibility to supervise the people they hire to do this?

ACORN does and it does. As I keep saying, ACORN is required to turn in all registrations even if they know them to be false. ACORN can fire the employee, but it still has to turn in the registrations. That's the law. What's sad is that politically-motivated opposition to ACORN is often justified on the basis of registrations flagged by ACORN itself.

[Anonymous]

Jeff, I can't find anything on the $800K issue on Obama's web sites. Do you have any links from them responding to the charge that the campaign gave $800K to an ACORN subsidiary? I'd like to be able to say this charge is false but I'm having trouble finding anything reliable to rebut it and my internet connection is really flaky today. (Is DCUM running slow too or is it just my connection?) Thanks for your help.

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:Jeff, I can't find anything on the $800K issue on Obama's web sites. Do you have any links from them responding to the charge that the campaign gave $800K to an ACORN subsidiary? I'd like to be able to say this charge is false but I'm having trouble finding anything reliable to rebut it and my internet connection is really flaky today. (Is DCUM running slow too or is it just my connection?) Thanks for your help.

My understanding is that the $800K issue is true, more or less. The Obama campaign paid $800,000 to Citizen’s Services Inc. for get-out-the-vote activities. The purpose of the expenditure was misreported, but then corrected in an amended report. Citizen’s Services Inc. has variously been described as an "ACORN front", "ACORN subsidiary", and simply "ACORN". I do not know the facts regarding the true relationship of Citizen's Services and ACORN. I do know that Citizen's Services is a registered non-profit corporation in Lousiana:

http://www400.sos.louisiana.gov/cgibin?rqstyp=crpdtlC&rqsdta=35852080N

The three directors have connections to ACORN, though the importance of those is subject to interpretation. Citizen's Services shared a mailing address with an ACORN branch.

The Obama payments were for activities that occurred during the primary campaign. Again, they were for get-out-the-vote, not registration.

I am not aware of any Obama response regarding this charge. As is my tendency, I think they should just come out and say what it was. I couldn't care less if Obama hired ACORN for get-out-the-vote support and I doubt many other people would either.

[Anonymous]

Many thanks! I agree with your suggestion that the campaign just acknowledge the facts, whatever they are. Using campaign funds for GOTV activities is a common and long-standing practice that is certainly not unique to the Obama campaign.