The law of politics and the politics of law: election law, campaign finance, legislation, voting rights, initiatives, redistricting, and the Supreme Court nomination process

Rick Hasen's web log « "McCain Campaign Calls for Investigation of ACORN-Obama Ties" | Main | Heated Sixth Circuit Opinion in Ohio Matching Case; En Banc Decision May Come Tomorrow » "The Purge Surge:Why the GOP is Nuts About ACORN" I have just posted this piece at The Huffington Post. It begins:

What explains the Republicans' fixation on ACORN in recent days? From Sen. McCain's campaign manager to GOP luminaries to the McCain campaigns own new web ad, ACORN appears to be target # 1 of the GOP campaign against Senator Obama, surpassing even a focus on William Ayers. The claims are that ACORN is engaging in massive voter fraud through its voter registration activities, and--according to the new web ad--that the group forced banks to take on risky loans that have led to the country's financial crisis. Though at first glance it may look like this is about tying Senator Obama to a group that has been under investigation for its voter registration activities, the real point appears to be part of a broader Republican strategy to remove likely Democratic voters from the voter rolls and to lay the groundwork to contest the outcome of the presidential election in the event of an extremely close result in a battleground state.

Posted by Rick Hasen at October 10, 2008 04:05 PM

