Sarah Palin said that Barack Obama has a responsibility to “rein in ACORN” and the rampant voter registration fraud afoot and under investigation in several battleground states…again. The Obama campaign’s written response to the concern expressed last month was one suggesting the McCain campaign is somehow engaged in “suppression strategies pursued by national, state and Republican Party committees.”
“Obama has a responsibility to rein in ACORN,” Palin said during an interview with conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh.
Palin said the group is responsible for the “unconscionable situation we are facing now with voter fraud” and attacked the Obama campaign for not addressing the problem after the McCain campaign sent a letter to the Democratic camp urging action against voter fraud in September.
Shortly before Palin went on the air, the Obama campaign e-mailed around its response, dated Sept. 23, characterizing the McCain campaign’s concern as “a starkly political maneuver to deflect attention from the reality of the suppression strategies pursued by national, state and Republican Party committees.”
Come again? Who’s “deflecting attention”? How is it that his Republican opponents are executing “suppression strategies”? I am sure the conspiracy theories will fly rampantly in response to the question.
But the fact remains that ACORN is under investigation in multiple states for multiple abuses – with piles of thousands of fraudulent voter registration forms openly acknowledged by ACORN representatives.
Their defense is essentially that when it boils down to it, it is the responsibility of the registrant, not ACORN, and that they cannot possibly check and verify them all in a timely manner. Neither can the local elections commissions – and that, of course, is the entire strategy.
One of the no-shows has already tried to vote, the board was told. His registration already had been canceled, yet he tried to register and vote on the same day about two weeks ago. Board workers recognized his name and stopped him.
Katy Gall, ACORN’s Ohio director, said outside the meeting that she’s proud of the work her group did. Gall said some of the 13,000 canvassers nationwide obviously didn’t live up to the organization’s standards. She said ACORN will continue to help with the county’s investigation and try to refine its programs.
ACORN – An ever cooperative organization with standards so lofty they struggle to meet them. They are merely providing a public service.
A convenient loop when your very defense is your offensive strategy: Overwhelm the local systems and staffs, thereby increasing the likelihood of fraudulently inflating vote totals with multiple-instance voters completing multiple ballots.
But rest assured, ACORN is cooperating fully and eager to assist in investigations. With so much to cross-check and verify, they should have internal findings for investigators in a timely manner. Sometime around, say, January 30th.
UPDATE: Speaking of Phantom Suppression, Who Are Obama’s Donors? And why is his donor list being suppressed? Just asking…
