ACORN scandal elicits vote-theft charge

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By Christina Bellantoni and S.A. Miller

Republicans are aggressively trying to depict Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama as trying to "steal" the election by linking him to a growing voter fraud scandal, deploying language typically used by Democrats when they have been on the losing end of a tight contest.

Three weeks before Election Day, more instances of fraud connected to the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now are surfacing, including Mickey Mouse registering to vote in Florida. The Republican Party is quick to pounce.

The campaign of Sen. John McCain, the Republican candidate, is highlighting ties between his Democratic rival and ACORN, which is under investigation in 10 states by either federal or state officials over tens of thousands of fraudulent voter registrations, including applications with duplicate names and fictitious addresses.

"If left uncorrected, these numerous investigations and accusations of voter fraud with ACORN could produce a nightmare scenario on Election Day," McCain campaign manager Rick Davis said Tuesday. "Given the extensive relationship between Barack Obama and ACORN, our campaign also feels that Senator Obama has a responsibility to rein in ACORN's efforts and to work aggressively against wide-scale voter fraud."

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Mr. McCain's running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, echoed the talking point and said in an e-mail this week: "We can't allow leftist groups like ACORN to steal this election."

Team Obama called Republican accusations "cynical," but it was forced to get fully engaged in defense of the $832,598 payment it made to ACORN and answer extensive questions from reporters.

Obama campaign manager David Plouffedefended the campaign's payment to ACORN, saying the money was for a voter canvass in the "larger primary states" of Ohio, Texas and Pennsylvania. He added that the campaign "has never paid ACORN to register voters."

Mr. Plouffe said Republicans are "highly transparent" in what he said is their strategy to "cry out and make arguments about fraud and try and create a smoke screen out there to confuse voters. ... We're going to fight that aggressively."

In less than 48 hours, Republicans used a variation of the word "steal" in at least three appeals to supporters.