ACORN: The Myth That Won’t Go Away
Wednesday, November 25th, 2009This Editor and Publisher article perpetuates the myth that ACORN is being wrongfully targeted by evil conservatives. E & P is perpetuating this shattered myth:
Leading up to the 2008 presidential campaign, ACORN was a target of allegations of voter fraud from the Republican Party and conservative news sources. Although the predicted voter fraud never materialized, the stories planted during the election season yielded a bountiful crop of misinformation. Now, in November 2009, a national survey revealed shocking public misperceptions about ACORN: more than half of Americans have an unfavorable opinion of ACORN, and 52% of Republicans, 18% of independents, and 9% of Democrats think ACORN stole the election for Obama.
While I don’t believe that President Obama would’ve lost the election if not for ACORN, it isn’t a myth that ACORN committed voter registration fraud. In fact, I’m betting that this article is a distraction from yesterday’s report. E & P knows that ACORN employees pled guilty to voter registration fraud in Seattle:
Three of seven defendants in the biggest voter-registration fraud scheme in Washington history have pleaded guilty and one has been sentenced, prosecutors said Monday.
The defendants were all temporary employees of ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, when they allegedly filled out and submitted more than 1,800 fictitious voter-registration cards during a 2006 registration drive in King and Pierce counties.
E & P knows about ACORN, not ACORN employees, being indicted by Nevada’s Democratic Attorney General for “operating a fraud-infested voter registration drive in the state during the 2008 presidential campaign”: (more…)