ACORN Teaches McCain About Power of Community OrganizingRandy Shawbyline‚ Oct. 23‚ 2008When the McCain campaign used Sarah Palin to denigrate community organizers, it targeted a constituency that knows how to win political fights. Consider McCain’s all-out offensive against ACORN. McCain claims the group is jeopardizing “the fabric of democracy,” and right-wing media outlets repeatedly accuse ACORN of “voter fraud.” But ACORN’s seasoned organizers have used media events, conference calls, and e-mail alerts to shift the debate, and put McCain on the defensive. For example, ACORN gave the media a video of McCain praising its advocacy for low-income people at one of the group’s 2006 events; this made McCain's campaign season attacks appear hypocritical. In addition, ACORN re-focused the media on three key issues it had neglected: the Bush Administration’s firing of U.S. attorneys for refusing to prosecute bogus voter fraud claims, the Republican Party’s recent history of making false charges of voter fraud, and the GOP’s overall voter suppression strategy. ACORN has taken its share of hits along the way, but its counter-attacks on McCain have clearly reduced the candidate’s support. |