"This really is what a movement looks like." (0.00 / 0)

I'm not going to contribute to a rightwing hatefest on ACORN, but it's a fairly one-sided view of New York's enormously varied progressive movement and ACORN you've given here.  It's the diversity of different groups, the pluses and minuses of groups like ACORN, and the squabbling and negotiating of differences (or not) of different labor and other groups that are what a movement looks like, imo.

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by: dr anonymous @ Tue Oct 28, 2008 at 12:13:26 PM CDT

Good work, Adam. (0.00 / 0)

ACORN does very good work to help people.

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by: Tom Wells @ Tue Oct 28, 2008 at 12:36:31 PM CDT

Cool shoutout to the netroots (4.00 / 1)

Here's a bogus comment someone made in conservative-Democrat, social-liberal-hating blogland.

ACORN strictly focuses on class and labor issues and thus is an organization I see as having an important role to play in keeping the feet of the Democratic Party to the fire and to keep in check the cultural liberals in the Party who want to move away from issues of racial and economic justice to a Party that is more yuppie centered powered by the "netroots".

Clearly, someone has been listening to too much netroots-hatin' AM radio/Fox News. I'm going to have to throw this video up on my blog. Thanks, and good work...

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by: johnalive @ Tue Oct 28, 2008 at 12:53:03 PM CDT

Fascinating. (0.00 / 0)

Apparently ACORN is really a mirror in which everyone sees what they want to see. The Right sees the Apocalypse and social conservative Dems see a group focused on accountability and economic justice.

The reality, of course, is something different and more complex, a la the first commentor (though I have to say citing the IWW as an authority on anything related to union organizing in modern America is a complete joke).

But denigrating the Netroots is just myopic. Not only is it heterogenous, but it is one of the most solid independent sources of accountability within the larger progressive movement. To a degree that has been unseen outside of organized labor and groups like ACORN, the Netroots are not only interested in winning elections, they are interested in governing. And governing from a progressive perspective. This is a major leap forward for progressives and the impact of that outlook coupled with strategic vision and smart use of tools has helped propel a progressive public policy agenda into the mainstream political conversation.

I'm glad that traditional organizing groups like ACORN are learning how to engage contructively with the Netroots because that's only going to amplify the power that the entire progressive movement has.

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by: nathanhj @ Tue Oct 28, 2008 at 13:05:53 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

With only 55-60% of registered voters voting, that leaves >40% for mischief (0.00 / 0)

the GOP argument that ACORN is trying to corrupt the election is so patently absurd.  With over 40% registered voters not even voting, a huge pool of voters has always been available for huge mischief.  ACORN never needed to waste it's time and money registering new voters when the names of voters not voting have always been there to corrupt an election.  Who knows how many times lists of occasional or non-voters were used to stuff the absentee vote?  I think alot of that happened during the 2000 election.  I just hope Obama supporters swamp the polls Tuesday.

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by: gaspare @ Tue Oct 28, 2008 at 13:20:14 PM CDT

Actually (4.00 / 1)

the percentage of RV not voting is much smaller than that, in the 25% range, not 40%. The percent of voting-eligible population (18 yo+ and citizens) is closer to 40%. That's why registration is so important.

More here: Representational Bias in the 2006 Electorate http://projectvote.org/index.p...

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by: nathanhj @ Tue Oct 28, 2008 at 14:04:23 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

The WFP Vote Is Important (0.00 / 0)

A fusion strategy is far and away the most effective means we have for increasing progressive clout.

One of the attacks launched at Obama in the last few weeks is that he was involved with the New Party, which was an attempt to use the fusion strategy at a national level.  It was shot down by the Supreme Court in one of the worst examples of conservative judicial activism, but their ruling had no effect on states, such as New York, that explicitly permit fusion voting.  So we should definitely make the most of it.

"You know what they say -- those of us who fail history... doomed to repeat it in summer school." -- Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Season 6, Episode 3

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by: Paul Rosenberg @ Tue Oct 28, 2008 at 14:05:50 PM CDT

Whoops! (0.00 / 0)

In my list of thank yous, one of the biggest names I left out was Cong. Jesse Jackson, Jr, who was the first Congressman to publically come to ACORN's defense.

He published an excellent diary in the Huffington Post three weeks ago that took on all the smears and stuck back effectively.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...

I want to make sure that his contribution to ACORN's defense is fully acknowledged.

--Bertha

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by: Bertha Lewis @ Wed Oct 29, 2008 at 15:41:12 PM CDT