The McCain Campaign released this memo on Friday Blasting Obama’s involvement in ACORN
TO: Interested Parties
RE: Barack Obama & ACORN
DATE: October 10, 2008
Today, the McCain campaign outlined the intimate and longstanding relationship between Barack Obama and the Association of Community Organizers for Reform Now (ACORN). Given ACORN’s recent efforts to engage in voter fraud and to disrupt our political system, Obama’s affiliation with this group raises serious questions about his judgment and ability to lead this nation.
As of today, ACORN is under investigation for fraudulent activities in at least 11 key battleground states and accused of wrongdoing in many others. According to election officials across the country, about 50% of ACORN’s voter registrations are fictitious. This week alone, ACORN offices in Nevada were raided by state officials – after the starting lineup of the Dallas Cowboys appeared registered to vote in Las Vegas – and in Connecticut, a seven-year-old child registered to vote as a 27-year-old.
Below is a brief summary of Obama’s connection to the organization. A diagram of connections outlining Obama’s many ties to ACORN can be found here: http://www.gop.com/ObamaAcornTree.
The relationship between Barack Obama and ACORN dates back to the early 1990s, well before the start of his political career. In 1992, Obama directed Project Vote – an arm of ACORN that also encouraged voter registration. Around the same time, Obama began teaching classes for “Future Leaders Identified by ACORN,” and according to an op-ed at the time, Obama continued his community organizing work largely through these classes.
Obama soon moved on from his role as a community organizer and became a trial attorney for ACORN. In 1995, Obama represented ACORN in a lawsuit against the state of Illinois for its supposed failure to implement a federal law designed to make voter registration easier, and thus increasing the likelihood of voter fraud. Obama also joined two well-known boards with strong ties to ACORN – the Woods Fund and the Joyce Foundation. Under Obama’s watch, the Chicago ACORN branch received thousands of dollars in grants from both organizations.
During this year’s Democrat primaries, Obama’s campaign paid $832,000 to Citizens Services, an ACORN-affiliated organization, for get-out-the-vote efforts. Sensing the need to distance itself from the controversial organization, however, Obama’s Federal Election Commission report mischaracterized this work as “staging and lighting.”
Given his longstanding ties to the organization, it is not surprising that Obama accepted the endorsement of ACORN in 2008. In a press release touting the endorsement on his official campaign website, Obama says: “I’ve been fighting alongside ACORN on issues that you care about my entire career.”
Obama’s subsequent failure to disclose the true nature of his relationship with ACORN, however, is very surprising and deeply troubling. His campaign website, which on one page features the aforementioned quote, claims on another page that Obama has no connection to ACORN. This direct contradiction illustrates Obama’s willingness to distort the true facts and seriously calls his judgment into question.
We are hopeful that three actions come from today’s discussion. First, Barack Obama has to be forthright about his relationship with ACORN. Secondly, given their willingness to compromise the voting process in key battleground states across the country, a thorough investigation of ACORN must be conducted before Election Day. Finally, federal funding of ACORN must cease immediately until the full examination has been completed. American taxpayers should not be funding an organization mired in potentially illegal activities.
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