| ACORN (ACORN stands for Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) has faced many smears by the Republican Party in a recent weeks, including by the party's nominee for president Sen. John McCain. Of course, these smears are ridiculous and there are many reasons why they are ridiculous.
Over the last few days, I've had the opportunity to listen in on a press call and a call specifically for bloggers. ACORN is not sitting back and taking these attacks lightly. In fact, they are going on the offensive. They want people to know what ACORN is really about and what ACORN does. As we know in America, it's not hard to misinform millions of people about a certain issue or topic (see Iraq War).
This week, ACORN is dedicated to setting the record straight and more importantly, raise awareness about voter suppression which is a REAL issue that has occurred in two elections (2000 and 2004) that were won by Republican George W. Bush.
Earlier this week during a press call, ACORN brought up a few different eye-opening incidents that are worth mentioning. In New Mexico, the Republicans there challenged the validity of several voters there. Upon further review, these voters were valid. The claims of "voter fraud" were false.
Another issue that ACORN is focusing on is voter suppression involving voters who have had their homes foreclosed. In multiple states, there are efforts underway trying to suppress these voters. One such is Michigan, where the Republicans were trying to purge voters from the rolls using foreclosure lists. Luckily, that attempt was foiled. But we still need to watch for these attempts nationwide.
There has also been a growing hatred for ACORN thanks to the GOP rhetoric and the loud-mouthed antics of John McCain and Sarah Palin. In Wisconsin, a person canvassing for Barack Obama was reportedly attacked by someone who referred to ACORN while physically abusing this individual. There have been break-ins at ACORN headquarters in Boston and Washington state. There have been threats and racism directed at ACORN employees and volunteers, as well as one instance of someone receiving a death threat from an individual who just happened to have "McCain-Palin" on their Facebook page.
This is what ACORN is up against. But they aren't standing down. I will have more on this later. |
