Any number of respected news outlets have done a decent job of correcting the MC Caine's assertion during the last debate that "We need to know the full extent of Senator Obama's relationship with Acorn, who is now on the verge of maybe perpetrating one of the greatest frauds in voter history in this country, maybe destroying the fabric of democracy. The same front outfit organization that your campaign gave $832,000 for "lighting and site selection." So all of these things need to be examined, of course. " You can read all about Acorn in the New York Times, for instance: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/17/opinion/17fri1.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=acorn%202006&st=cse&oref=slogin , which concludes:
But for all of the McCain campaign’s manufactured fury about vote theft (and similar claims from the Republican Party over the years) there is virtually no evidence — anywhere in the country, going back many elections — of people showing up at the polls and voting when they are not entitled to.Meanwhile, Republicans aren’t saying anything about another more serious voter-registration scandal: the fact that about one-third of eligible voters are not registered. The racial gaps are significant and particularly disturbing. According to a study by Project Vote, a voting-rights group, in 2006, 71 percent of eligible whites were registered, compared with 61 percent of blacks, 54 percent of Latinos and 49 percent of Asian-Americans.Much of the blame for this lies with overly restrictive registration rules. Earlier this year, the League of Women Voters halted its registration drive in Florida after the state imposed onerous new requirements. The answer is for government to do a better job of registering people to vote. That way there would be less need to rely on private registration drives, largely being conducted by well-meaning private organizations that use low-paid workers. Federal and state governments should do their own large-scale registration drives staffed by experienced election officials. Even better, Congress and the states should adopt election-day registration, which would make such drives unnecessary. The real threats to the fabric of democracy are the unreasonable barriers that stand in the way of eligible voters casting ballots.
But for all of the McCain campaign’s manufactured fury about vote theft (and similar claims from the Republican Party over the years) there is virtually no evidence — anywhere in the country, going back many elections — of people showing up at the polls and voting when they are not entitled to.
Meanwhile, Republicans aren’t saying anything about another more serious voter-registration scandal: the fact that about one-third of eligible voters are not registered. The racial gaps are significant and particularly disturbing. According to a study by Project Vote, a voting-rights group, in 2006, 71 percent of eligible whites were registered, compared with 61 percent of blacks, 54 percent of Latinos and 49 percent of Asian-Americans.
Much of the blame for this lies with overly restrictive registration rules. Earlier this year, the League of Women Voters halted its registration drive in Florida after the state imposed onerous new requirements.
The answer is for government to do a better job of registering people to vote. That way there would be less need to rely on private registration drives, largely being conducted by well-meaning private organizations that use low-paid workers. Federal and state governments should do their own large-scale registration drives staffed by experienced election officials. Even better, Congress and the states should adopt election-day registration, which would make such drives unnecessary.
The real threats to the fabric of democracy are the unreasonable barriers that stand in the way of eligible voters casting ballots.
All well and good, but has McCain forgotten, and why isn't the mainstream media reporting, that in 2006, McCain wasn't afraid of voter registration efforts and organizations and supported Acorn?
Marc Ambinder digs up a pretty damning video, given McCain's current line of attack on Barack Obama. In 2006, McCain told members of ACORN, UNITE HERE, SEIU, and PAW that they were "what makes America special."As Ambinder says:McCain had no trouble fraternizing with ACORN in 2006 when their political interests coincided with his. Now, his campaign is writing e-mails in his name bashing ACORN as a tool of the Obama machine.Ben Smith also posted a picture of McCain at the same rally. Here's the video Ambinder posted: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJ9wy2MI1NI
Marc Ambinder digs up a pretty damning video, given McCain's current line of attack on Barack Obama. In 2006, McCain told members of ACORN, UNITE HERE, SEIU, and PAW that they were "what makes America special."
As Ambinder says:
McCain had no trouble fraternizing with ACORN in 2006 when their political interests coincided with his. Now, his campaign is writing e-mails in his name bashing ACORN as a tool of the Obama machine.
Ben Smith also posted a picture of McCain at the same rally. Here's the video Ambinder posted: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJ9wy2MI1NI
If you liked this message, then please have a look at my blog, http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/blog/henrymu and support and contribute to the campaign (it’s not over until the polls close): http://tinyurl.com/henrym4obamafundraising
Henry M
Comments are closed for this post.
