Is former Sen John Danforth (R-MO) McCain's official "hatchetman" for ACORN and for disfranchisement

[ProgressiveEconomist]

for disfranchisement of new voters supporting Obama?

In a press conference at the National Press Club this morning (Oct 14th), Danforth called for ACORN to turn over its entire database to states, so that all voters registered by ACORN can be IDENTIFIED.

WHAT'S YOUR OPINION of this development?

IMO, "if you build it, they will come". If ACORN's databases get turned over to Republican Secretaries of State in close states, mischief surely will ensue on Election Day and after in multiple states. For example, entire precincts where ACORN registered hundreds of new voters may be singled out by the GOP for special illegal "ballot security" ID requirements, for selective disfranchisement, or for complete removal from certified vote totals.

Why else would the McCain campaign have created a "McCain-Palin 2008 Honest and Open Election Committee"? (List of memebers at http://www.wral.com/golo/blogpost/3553403 )

See http://www.press.org/article.cfm?id=229 and the stories that will flow later today from this National Press Club event.

See also an earlier thread at http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x7437693

[Ilsa]

1. I thought Danforth was better than this.

Maybe he really is innocently and genuinely buying into the GOP's line about fraud. Maybe laying it all out there will diffuse their argument after they lose that the election was rigged by Dem operatives.

But my fear is that he is just a McCain tool.

[ProgressiveEconomist]

2. Didn't Danforth turn down Bush 2000 campaign requests to head up their post-election efforts?

IIRC Danforth took a principled stand then against Bush campaign efforts to disfranchise tens of thousands of voters. Now Danforth seemis to be behaving more like his former Senate colleague Kit Bond, who's notorious for antidemocratic election schemes.

[nykym]

3. Just as soon

as they turn over all thier caging lists.

[CreekDog]

4. Don't understand why DC treats this guy with the reverence appropriate for Mother Teresa

:eyes:

[Ilsa]

6. I think he is an Episcopal minister now. I remember him as a pretty

decent guy. I hope he doesn't allow himself to gt caught up with this mess.

I guess he is doing it for his friendship with John McCan't.

[WCGreen]

5. Today on the Diane Rehms show, Matt Damshroeder, the conservative GOP

assistant executive director of the Franklin County (Columbus) Ohio Board of Elections said without any fan fair that ACORN's alleged fraud was minimal at best and was not the fault of the organization.

He said they worked with ACORN on a weekly basis to make sure everything was above board. The Franklin County BOE did not want any questions. He pointed out that most of the challenges from the GOP would come on the early voting that occurred during in the six day overlap between registering and voting. He stated that all of those challenges would be dealt with before the election.

This is Franklin county. Up the pike a piece in Cuyahoga County, the problem is a little more thorny but won't have much of an impact on the general election because they are talking about fictional registration cards submitted that were done by a few people who were helping friends hit ACORN Quotas.

In the print version of the story run in the Plain Dealer, the reporter, Joe Guillen, stated that "ACORN leaders have acknowledged that workers paid by the hour are given quotas to fill."

They may not pay their workers by the piece but keeping employment depends on hitting quotas so that is like a middle ground between piece work and hourly wages.

The only reason I bring this up is because ACORN has problems. Do these problems overshadow the good work they have done and continue to do, no they don't. Mainly because they are not significant. But they do cause a political problem for Obama.

[John K]

7. I'm glad to hear that there are a few GOP members that are honest

However, no one that I have seen on TV has engaged their brain when they have discussed this problem. We need to kill this with ridicule. Is Mickey Mouse going to vote anywhere? Maybe someone can do a Youtube showing all this fictional characters trying to steal the election from the Repubs. This is a crock, but a dangerous one because many low information voters will believe it.