Bob78164 wrote:
To be a little more specific, on the first claim, all that's said is that some of Obama's early community organizing work which occurred before he went to law school occurred on behalf of ACORN. There's no suggestion that he had any sort of leadership position with ACORN, nor any evidence to suggest that he has any particular contact with them now.
On the second claim, apparently the issue is $20 billion that would have gone to some sort of housing trust, some portion of which could (according to critics) have been spent through (not on) ACORN.
Facts matter. It's important to look behind the partisan claims and get to the primary sources. In the Internet Age, that's now easier than ever before, and you're far too intelligent not to understand that. I hope that the next time you're tempted to regurgitate political talking points, you take the time to do your fact-checking first. It will lead to improved dialogue all around. --Bob
I prefer primary sources, too. The original article in Social Policy (Vol. 34, 2-3, Winter 2003-Spring 2004) by Toni Foulkes, described in that journal as "a Chicago ACORN leader and a member of ACORN’s National Association Board," includes this passage about events that led up to Obama's gaining the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate in March 2004.
"Obama started building the base years before. For instance, ACORN noticed him when he was organizing on the far south side of the city with the Developing Communities Project. He was a very good organizer. When he returned from law school, we asked him to help us with a lawsuit to challenge the state of Illinois’ refusal to abide by the National Voting Rights Act, also known as motor voter. Allied only with the state of Mississippi, Illinois had been refusing to allow mass-based voter registration according to the new law. Obama took the case, known as ACORN vs. Edgar (the name of the Republican governor at the time) and we won. Obama then went on to run a voter registration project with Project VOTE in 1992 that made it possible for Carol Moseley Braun to win the Senate that year. Project VOTE delivered 50,000 newly registered voters in that campaign (ACORN delivered about 5000 of them).
"Since then, we have invited Obama to our leadership training sessions to run the session on power every year, and, as a result, many of our newly developing leaders got to know him before he ever ran for office. Thus, it was natural for many of us to be active volunteers in his first campaign for State Senate and then his failed bid for U.S. Congress in 1996. By the time he ran for U.S. Senate, we were old friends."
In this case, of course, the primary source is more difficult to access, since the Foulkes article apparently is the only portion of that issue removed from the quarterly's site and internet archives. You may wish to argue that 2004 is such ancient history that it can’t possibly be considered “current.” It most definitely was long after “he went to law school.” To some people, 2004 is not long ago at all. Facts matter, Bob.
Now generating the White Hot Glare of Righteousness on behalf of BBs everywhere.
