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Ain't Going Out Like That-The True Story of ACORN

By DeBorah B.
Pryor

EUR EXCLUSIVE: ACORN's Chief Organizer, Bertha Lewis, says organization won't be scapegoat for GOP voter suppression.
Organization's relationship with Barack Obama clarified

http://www. eurweb. com/story/eur48330. cfm




While it is no secret that conservatives have historically preyed upon the vulnerable in their attempts to suppress votes, the heights these entities go to never ceases to amaze; presenting scenarios that range from: "We lost your address so you're no longer on the rolls," to "You can't vote because you have parking tickets," to "Don't vote on Tuesday, you can vote on Wednesday instead," to "Your polling place has been changed" may sound ludicrous to some; but unfortunately, not to enough. Imagine getting a call from a very authentic sounding individual instructing you to "call in" your vote instead of going to the polls because of long lines.


Few can deny that the downright raunchy behavior surrounding this unprecedented presidential election continues to be -- at the very least -- jaw-dropping.


Thanks to the Grand Old Party (GOP), the race for America's Top Spot has far exceeded nasty to produce a no-holds-barred, every man (and woman) for himself strategy that has taken despicable to brand new heights.


To say it must be difficult to remain focused ... poised and seemingly unnerved in the midst of it all is an understatement, but "as we speak" Bertha Lewis - Chief Organizer of the national nonprofit, nonpartisan organization A.C.O.R.
N (Association for Community Organizations for Reform Now) - tells EUR publisher Lee Bailey that the organization is "Holding up.
"

The response to Bailey's "How are you?" greeting comes amidst what Lewis calls "an onslaught from the Republican Party and the RNC (Republican National Committee) against our organization and this unprecedented campaign to discredit us.
"

ACORN is the nation's largest grassroots community organization working for social justice on behalf of low to moderate income people since 1970. They have a constituency of 400,000 member families; organized into more than 1,200 neighborhood chapters in 110 cities and 40 states.


They perform a multitude of services; but have been instrumental in helping first-time homebuyers in low-income neighborhoods to not fall prey to unscrupulous predatory lending practices; they have worked with community-faith-labor coalitions on campaigns across the country-backing ballot initiatives to raise the minimum wage and as a result, succeeded in getting the raise in at least 4 states.


According to ACORN's Chief Organizer, the organization has helped more than 1.3 million low and moderate-income and minority citizens register to vote. While this appears to be quite a fait accompli; this revelatory milestone has ruffled the feathers of the GOP; who have ignited thunderous accusations that have placed the organization in the eye of the storm; with claims that they have participated in voter registration fraud.


Ignited by John McCain's poorly contained, venomous outburst during the October 15, Hofstra University-hosted Presidential Debate, where the Republican presidential hopeful accused ACORN of fraudulent voter registration practices that he said threatened to "...destroy the fabric of American democracy," ACORN has since been the victim of racist hate mail, emails [and] voice mails. Their offices have been vandalized [and] broken into; and the staff and their families have received death threats.


But by the looks (and sound) of things: ACORN 'ain't going out like that.
'

Lewis calls the McCain statement "Hysteria," and believes it was an [unsuccessful] attempt to deflect attention from a massive voter suppression that she says is going on in battleground states across the country by the Republicans and the RNC right now.


"Our offices want the government to investigate the allegations and the smear tactics that the Republicans are using against us," comments Lewis. "...Voter registration is part of fulfilling our mission to empower low and moderate income folks because we believe that people of color, poor people, young people in this country have been disenfranchised systematically ever since Reconstruction days...As part of our mandate to expand democracy and make sure that members ... participate in having a voice in the policies that affect their lives, we have always been political," she continues.


The Republican Party has been like a thorn in the side of ACORN since 2000; when readers may recall no president was named over a six-week-period following the election due to voting machines allegedly not working properly. At that time the organization had successfully registered one million new voters who wanted to see an increase in Florida's minimum wage. And while George Bush emerged as the new President; the ballot initiative also passed, and the minimum wage was raised. The GOP kept pursuing the organization; and came after them again in 2004 and again, in 2006.


"What people don't realize," says Bertha Lewis, is [then] Attorney General Alberto Gonzales ... had to step down after an investigation where he sent U. S. attorney's after ACORN ... to try to prove that we were guilty of voter fraud... [But] they came back and said 'They're not guilty of voter fraud; they're innocent'... Alberto Gonzales fired those eight U. S. attorneys.
"

ACORN Executive Director Steve Kest reiterates, "Even the General Counsel of the RNC acknowledged that he could not cite a single example of an improper vote having been cast as a result of alleged voter registration fraud.
"

ACORN, not unlike many employers who discover dishonest employees after hiring, has acknowledged the improper conduct by some of their hires; and in turn, have fired and even prosecuted those employees for their unethical behavior.
Further, the organization was the first to call attention to the issue in an October 9, 2008 Press Release stating:

"In nearly every case that has been reported, it was ACORN that discovered the bad forms and called them to the attention of election authorities, putting the forms in a package that identified them in writing as suspicious, encouraging election officials to investigate, and offering to help with prosecutions." ACORN referred to these hires as "lazy employees who did not want to work for their pay" and wants to make it clear that it is ACORN that was the victim, not the public.


Lewis tells Lee Bailey that ever since the year 2000, the organizations' Voter Registration Drive has been nonpartisan.


"We don't care if you're Democrat or Republican. We just want you to be registered and make sure that you vote. Here's why," she continues, "Yes, the presidency is very important, but what is even more important is...if you are registered, on the roll in your local communities...your vote has to be competed for ... people ... in the State Houses, in the City Council, in City Hall, know that they have to deal with you; [whether you are]... Dog catcher to State Senator.
"

It is important to note that, although ACORN as an organization is nonpartisan, and does not encourage their membership to vote one way or another; they have the right to support whomever they please.
The ACORN Political Action Committee has endorsed Senator Barack Obama in his run to become the next President of the United States.


The brouhaha that has been made over an alleged "relationship" between Senator Barack Obama and ACORN may have unintentionally provided a loophole for the GOP's negative slant.
Senator Obama had gone on record saying that he had represented the organization, but Lewis insisted on clarifying with this statement:

"He was a lawyer among a group of lawyers that represented not only ACORN, but a whole group of community organizations and a coalition that was pushing to make sure that the Motor Voter Law was enforced. So it's by extension. It wasn't that he was ACORN's lawyer; he was among a GROUP of lawyers that represented a GROUP of community organizations in Illinois. "Unfortunately," she continues, "we would love to have said that he worked for us; but he never worked for us; he never tried to train us ... so the Republican Party is making a desperate attempt to try and discredit us by linking us to him and therefore trying to smear and discredit him.
"

Still, with that said, Lewis couldn't resist taking pleasure in espousing the term that the McCain-Palin ticket so desperately, albeit unsuccessfully, attempted to devalue.


"Let me just say that we're very happy that the next President of the United States is likely to be a 'Community Organizer!' [Chuckles]"

And as for the reports that mention the Democratic Party paid ACORN upwards of $800,000 for voter registration and other purposes?

"...There's been a lot of lies, allegations, [and] exaggerations that have been told," exerts Lewis, "Here's is the truth: The Democrats of the Obama Campaign contracted with ... Citizens Services Inc. (CSI)... a political consultancy group ... hired to do "Get Out The Vote" activities in the Primaries. And so CSI, in a very small ... contract with a couple of our chapters said 'would you help to get out the vote in the Primaries?' ACORN has never, ever, ever received one penny, one dime, from the Democrats or the Obama Campaign to do voter registration. We are nonpartisan; we get our funding from foundations and private sources.
And so again, the Republican Party and John McCain and Sarah Palin have told a lie. And just because you tell a lie, that doesn't make it true. That is a fact.
"

ACORN has gone to the Attorney General and the FBI to push for an investigation into the Republican Party's attempts to discredit them; and while ACORN's priority at this time is aimed at having the government focus on the voter suppression tactics they feel is being used by the Republicans; once the election is over, the organization will consult with their attorneys on a potential case for libel.


VOTER SUPPRESSION

While it is no secret that conservatives have historically preyed upon the vulnerable in their attempts to suppress votes, the heights these entities go to never ceases to amaze; presenting scenarios that range from: "We lost your address so you're no longer on the rolls," to "You can't vote because you have parking tickets," to "Don't vote on Tuesday, you can vote on Wednesday instead," to "Your polling place has been changed" may sound ludicrous to some; but unfortunately, not to enough. Imagine getting a call from a very authentic sounding individual instructing you to "call in" your vote instead of going to the polls because of long lines. Sounds good right? WRONG! Yet these perpetrators, who know that "each vote counts" are banking on placing even the slightest doubt in your mind because doubt--in the mind of even a single voter--can have a tremendous impact on the electorate-locally and nationally. These elaborate schemes, some of which are written on very "official" looking letterhead and mailed, have worked in the past.


"The face of the [voter] demographic has changed ... typically the older, white male was the profile. Now increasingly, it is the 'browning' of the American electorate; younger, more people of minority; more people leaning Independent or Democratic; and so if you can cast some doubt about this election [say] if Obama wins, you can set yourself up to question ...the outcome of that election and cast a shadow over [it]. And it does work; we've seen it work; many, many times," says Lewis.


This year, ACORN is dedicated to ensuring that people know about these tactics;
and the organization is fighting them. They admit that they are glad to have seen record numbers of voters coming out to vote early; and standing in long lines. Contrary to reports that Lewis says attempts to disparage and diminish the efforts of ACORN with claims that they "only registered 450,000 voters," Lewis reiterates that the organization has turned in 1.3 million voter registrations and moreover, they have "flagged and tagged anyone that was suspect-about 30% -- were set aside.


"We've always done this; we've always pointed out any personnel that we hired that could be suspected of turning in fraudulent cards; so in the end you have two different categories: You may have some cards that may be 1-2 percent...fraudulent; you have 20-something percent that may be incomplete, you know-missing some piece of information; and then you may have another 10% or so that may be duplicates. The [other] 70% ...falls into two categories: One, absolute brand new voters, and...Two folks that must register because they may have moved or they didn't vote in the last General Election. Those folks-almost a million of those folks-will be voting because we made it possible.
"

But the haters are still looming.
According to Lewis, ACORN calculates that FOX News alone has mentioned them 770 times-negatively, of course. But in spite of this, ACORN'S chief organizer recalls something her grandmother used to say: 'It's a question of mind over matter.
' So, she reiterates, "We don't mind, 'cause they don't matter!"

Yet all in all, when asked how difficult it has been to remain nonpartisan; especially after the vicious attacks thrown at them by the Republican Party, Lewis makes a clear separation:

"Our goal is to register those who have been voiceless; [those] who have been disenfranchised. So if we register poor, low to moderate-income families of color, [and] young people, remember: It doesn't matter what your affiliation is; now YOU COUNT; and THAT'S what we want. We don't say that you have to be a certain party; if you're on the rolls, you count. We encourage everyone: Get out and vote. Be on the lookout for voter suppression. Check with your local Board of Elections to make sure you are still on the roll. When you go to vote, take someone with you. Don't be turned away.
If you have to fill out a paper Ballot-do that! INSIST on your RIGHT to vote; and if you need help, come to ACORN. org ... where state by state, city by city, we'll be able to give you assistance.
"


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