“Acorn,” the new McCain Ad [Update: Congressman Attacks Acorn]

Here are some factual quotes that you can share with others you’re trying to persuade — factual quotes that demonstrate how involved Obama has been, for decades, in Acorn:

Newsday reported in its March 2, 2008 article, “Chicago’s Streets Obama’s Teacher (link unavailable) that Acorn’s president, Madeleine Talbot, invited Barack Obama to train her staff at Acorn:

Several community organizers and Altgeld Gardens tenants confirmed Johnson was working on asbestos but said Obama organized residents to act. ‘He got people to vote with their feet’ on the issue, organizer Madeleine Talbot said. At the time, Talbot worked at the social action group ACORN and initially considered Obama a competitor. But she became so impressed with his work that she invited him to help train her staff.

The Wall Street Journal reported on July 12, 2008 in its article, “Obama’s Liberal Shock Troops,” that Barack Obama was hired by Acorn in 1992 to run a voter registration effort.

We also know this from the socialist party newsletters that Matthew Weaver uncovered in his must-read NoQ article, in which the New Party endorses Obama and, among his resume items, lists: ” In 1992, he was Director of Illinois Project Vote, a voter registration campaign that made Carol Moseley Braun’s election to the U.S. Senate much easier than it would have been.”

From the WSJ article in July 2008:

Indeed, Mr. Obama has extensive connections with the granddaddy of activist groups, Acorn (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now), which has gotten millions in government grants for its low-income housing programs. In 1992, Acorn hired Mr. Obama to run a voter registration effort. He later became a trainer for the group, as well as its lawyer in election law cases. Acorn’s political arm has endorsed Mr. Obama while its ‘voter education’ arm has pledged to spend $35 million to register people this fall — despite a history of vote fraud scandals that have led to guilty pleas by many Acorn employees.

The Chicago Reader’s editorial, in December 1995, described Obama’s ongoing involvement with Acorn:

He [Obama] says he is drawn to politics, despite its superficialities, as a means to advance his real passion and calling: community organization. … In 1992 Obama took time off to direct Project Vote, the most successful grass-roots voter-registration campaign in recent city history. Credited with helping elect Carol Moseley-Braun to the U.S. Senate, the registration drive, aimed primarily at African-Americans, added an estimated 125,000 voters to the voter rolls–even more than were registered during Harold Washington’s mayoral campaigns. ‘It’s a power thing,’ said the brochures and radio commercials. … Obama continues his organizing work largely through classes for future leaders identified by ACORN and the Centers for New Horizons on the south side.

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Below is the script of the Acorn ad for those who can’t hear YouTube ads:

Script For “ACORN” (WEB :90)

JOHN MCCAIN: I’m John McCain and I approve this message.

ANNCR: Who is Barack Obama?

A man with “a political baptism performed at warp speed.”

Vast ambition.

After college, he moved to Chicago.

Became a community organizer.

There, Obama met Madeleine Talbot, part of the Chicago branch of ACORN.

He was so impressive that he was asked to train the ACORN staff.

What did ACORN in Chicago engage in?

Bullying banks.

Intimidation tactics.

Disruption of business.

ACORN forced banks to issue risky home loans.

The same types of loans that caused the financial crisis we’re in today.

No wonder Obama’s campaign is trying to distance him from the group, saying, “Barack Obama Never Organized with ACORN.”

But Obama’s ties to ACORN run long and deep.

He taught classes for ACORN.

They even endorsed him for President.

But now ACORN is in trouble.

REPORTER: There are at least 11 investigations across the country involving thousands of potentially fraudulent ACORN forms.

ANNCR: Massive voter fraud.

And the Obama campaign paid more than $800,000 to an ACORN front for get out the vote efforts.

Pressuring banks to issue risky loans.

Nationwide voter fraud.

Barack Obama.

Bad judgment. Blind ambition.

Too risky for America.