This story broke on Friday. It's now Tuesday--and, so far, the New York Times has not reported it.
Now, there are other stories that are just as timely, and important,
and the Times has
done them justice. In this morning's paper, for example, there's "Obama Briefly
Leaving Trail to See Ill Grandmother," and "Palin Breaking Out of Cocoon" ("On
the trail, a candidate wriggles free of her handlers"). And lately
Alessandra Stanley
had a very trenchant piece about the fine job Palin did on "Saturday
Night Live."
There's also lots of stuff about the latest polls, and how much both
candidates are
spending; and, today, an item on Obama's tactful take on the World Series.
So if the Times can handle such big news, surely they can find some
time, and space,
to note Obama/Biden's strong response to the Republican conspiracy to
use the myth
of "voter fraud" to throw the race McPalin's way.
MCM
Obama camp calls for special prosecutor in fraud investigation
BYLINE: From Martina Stewart CNN
SECTION: POLITICS
LENGTH: 583 words
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
October 17, 2008 Friday 2:39 AM EST
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/17/obama.acorn/index.html
The Obama campaign announced Friday that it is asking Attorney
General Michael Mukasey to turn over any investigations of voter
fraud or voter suppression to Special Prosecutor Nora Dannehy.
Dannehy is also the special prosecutor recently appointed to
investigate the U.S. attorney firing scandal.
It's the latest salvo in an escalating war over allegations of
possible voter irregularities during the upcoming presidential
election.
"What they're actually about is the unprecedented effort to
essentially sap the American people of confidence in the voting
process," Bob Bauer, the Obama campaign's general counsel, said
Friday on a conference call.
Bauer said partisan politics was behind Thursday's leak from senior
governmental officials about a preliminary FBI investigation into the
voter registration activities of ACORN, the embattled community
organizing group that has become the focus of Republican efforts to
highlight possible fraud as the election approaches.
"ACORN is a tool for attacking voters," Bauer said.
"We need to have these matters removed from the day-to-day
department's direct control and put into the special prosecutor's
independent hands," Bauer told reporters Friday. "She should have
responsibility for reviewing any and all matters involving
allegations of fraud and suppression in this election."
The McCain campaign suggested that Obama and his campaign were
engaging in partisan politics by requesting the special prosecutor's
involvement. In a statement issued Friday night, McCain-Palin
spokesman Ben Porritt calledObama's request "absurd" and said it was
an attempt to "criminalize political discourse."
"Rest assured that, despite these threats, the McCain-Palin campaign
will continue to address the serious issue of voter registration
fraud by ACORN and other partisan groups, and compliance by states
with the Help America Vote Act's requirement of matching new voter
registrations with state data bases to prevent voter fraud," Porritt
added.
Since ACORN's extensive voter registration drive ended recently,
allegations of voter registration fraud relating to the group's
activities have surfaced in several states. The McCain campaign
recently targeted ACORN's ties to Obama, and Republicans in Congress
called for a federal investigation of the group and an end to any
federal funding going to the group.
McCain personally called for an investigation into ACORN last week
during a campaign event. At the final presidential debate, he also
said ACORN "is now on the verge of maybe perpetrating one of the
greatest frauds in voter history in this country, maybe destroying
the fabric of democracy."
At issue is ACORN's practice of hiring local residents to register
potential voters. Some of those hired have filled out registration
forms themselves and handed in forms for non-existent people. ACORN
says it has fired people for that offense.
Voter registration fraud is not the same as voter fraud, in which
individuals attempt to fraudulently cast ballots. Voter registration
fraud leads to inflated voter rolls, but has little effect on voter
fraud.
The Obama campaign has said that ACORN has no role in its general
election voter registration efforts, and that it has never paid ACORN
to register voters. The Obama campaign hired an offshoot of ACORN
during the primary to canvas neighborhoods seeking votes.
In a statement issued Thursday, ACORN said it was confident it "would
be exonerated" in any federal investigation into its voter
registration activities.
=========================
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CNN.com
<http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/17/obama.acorn/index.html>http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/17/obama.acorn/index.html
October 17, 2008 Friday 2:39 AM EST
<http://w3.nexis.com:80/new/search/XMLCrossLinkSearch.do?bct=A&risb=21_T4884951160&returnToId=20_T4884975285&csi=266325&A=0.9650645580322511&sourceCSI=9369&indexTerm=%23PE000A0BO%23&searchTerm=Obama%20&indexType=P>Obama
camp calls for special prosecutor in fraud investigation
BYLINE: From Martina Stewart CNN
SECTION: POLITICS
LENGTH: 583 words
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
The
<http://w3.nexis.com:80/new/search/XMLCrossLinkSearch.do?bct=A&risb=21_T4884951160&returnToId=20_T4884975285&csi=266325&A=0.9650645580322511&sourceCSI=9369&indexTerm=%23PE000A0BO%23&searchTerm=Obama%20campaign%20&indexType=P>Obama
campaign announced Friday that it is
asking
<http://w3.nexis.com:80/new/search/XMLCrossLinkSearch.do?bct=A&risb=21_T4884951160&returnToId=20_T4884975285&csi=266325&A=0.9650645580322511&sourceCSI=9369&indexTerm=%23PE0009XOW%23&searchTerm=Attorney%20General%20Michael%20Mukasey%20&indexType=P>Attorney
General Michael Mukasey to turn over any investigations of voter
fraud or voter suppression to Special Prosecutor Nora Dannehy.
Dannehy is also the special prosecutor recently appointed to
investigate the U.S. attorney firing scandal.
It's the latest salvo in an escalating war over allegations of
possible voter irregularities during the upcoming presidential
election.
"What they're actually about is the unprecedented effort to
essentially sap the American people of confidence in the voting
process," Bob Bauer,
the
<http://w3.nexis.com:80/new/search/XMLCrossLinkSearch.do?bct=A&risb=21_T4884951160&returnToId=20_T4884975285&csi=266325&A=0.9650645580322511&sourceCSI=9369&indexTerm=%23PE000A0BO%23&searchTerm=Obama%20campaign&indexType=P>Obama
campaign 's general counsel, said Friday on a conference call.
Bauer said partisan politics was behind Thursday's leak from senior
governmental officials about a preliminary FBI investigation into the
voter registration activities of ACORN, the embattled community
organizing group that has become the focus of Republican efforts to
highlight possible fraud as the election approaches.
"ACORN is a tool for attacking voters," Bauer said.
"We need to have these matters removed from the day-to-day
department's direct control and put into the special prosecutor's
independent hands," Bauer told reporters Friday. "She should have
responsibility for reviewing any and all matters involving
allegations of fraud and suppression in this election."
The
<http://w3.nexis.com:80/new/search/XMLCrossLinkSearch.do?bct=A&risb=21_T4884951160&returnToId=20_T4884975285&csi=266325&A=0.9650645580322511&sourceCSI=9369&indexTerm=%23PE000A0BO%23&searchTerm=McCain%20campaign%20&indexType=P>McCain
campaign suggested
that
<http://w3.nexis.com:80/new/search/XMLCrossLinkSearch.do?bct=A&risb=21_T4884951160&returnToId=20_T4884975285&csi=266325&A=0.9650645580322511&sourceCSI=9369&indexTerm=%23PE000A0BO%23&searchTerm=Obama%20&indexType=P>Obama
and his campaign were engaging in partisan politics by requesting the
special prosecutor's involvement. In a statement issued Friday night,
McCain-Palin spokesman Ben Porritt
called<http://w3.nexis.com:80/new/search/XMLCrossLinkSearch.do?bct=A&risb=21_T4884951160&returnToId=20_T4884975285&csi=266325&A=0.9650645580322511&sourceCSI=9369&indexTerm=%23PE000A0BO%23&searchTerm=Obama&indexType=P>Obama
's request "absurd" and said it was an attempt to "criminalize
political discourse."
"Rest assured that, despite these threats, the McCain-Palin campaign
will continue to address the serious issue of voter registration
fraud by ACORN and other partisan groups, and compliance by states
with the Help America Vote Act's requirement of matching new voter
registrations with state data bases to prevent voter fraud," Porritt
added.
Since ACORN's extensive voter registration drive ended recently,
allegations of voter registration fraud relating to the group's
activities have surfaced in several states.
The
<http://w3.nexis.com:80/new/search/XMLCrossLinkSearch.do?bct=A&risb=21_T4884951160&returnToId=20_T4884975285&csi=266325&A=0.9650645580322511&sourceCSI=9369&indexTerm=%23PE000A0BO%23&searchTerm=McCain%20campaign%20&indexType=P>McCain
campaign recently targeted ACORN's ties
to
<http://w3.nexis.com:80/new/search/XMLCrossLinkSearch.do?bct=A&risb=21_T4884951160&returnToId=20_T4884975285&csi=266325&A=0.9650645580322511&sourceCSI=9369&indexTerm=%23PE000A0BO%23&searchTerm=Obama,%20&indexType=P>Obama,
and Republicans in Congress called for a federal investigation of the
group and an end to any federal funding going to the group.
McCain personally called for an investigation into ACORN last week
during a campaign event. At the final presidential debate, he also
said ACORN "is now on the verge of maybe perpetrating one of the
greatest frauds in voter history in this country, maybe destroying
the fabric of democracy."
At issue is ACORN's practice of hiring local residents to register
potential voters. Some of those hired have filled out registration
forms themselves and handed in forms for non-existent people. ACORN
says it has fired people for that offense.
Voter registration fraud is not the same as voter fraud, in which
individuals attempt to fraudulently cast ballots. Voter registration
fraud leads to inflated voter rolls, but has little effect on voter
fraud.
The
<http://w3.nexis.com:80/new/search/XMLCrossLinkSearch.do?bct=A&risb=21_T4884951160&returnToId=20_T4884975285&csi=266325&A=0.9650645580322511&sourceCSI=9369&indexTerm=%23PE000A0BO%23&searchTerm=Obama%20campaign%20&indexType=P>Obama
campaign has said that ACORN has no role in its general election
voter registration efforts, and that it has never paid ACORN to
register voters.
The
<http://w3.nexis.com:80/new/search/XMLCrossLinkSearch.do?bct=A&risb=21_T4884951160&returnToId=20_T4884975285&csi=266325&A=0.9650645580322511&sourceCSI=9369&indexTerm=%23PE000A0BO%23&searchTerm=Obama%20campaign%20&indexType=P>Obama
campaign hired an offshoot of ACORN during the primary to canvas
neighborhoods seeking votes.
In a statement issued Thursday, ACORN said it was confident it "would
be exonerated" in any federal investigation into its voter
registration activities.
=========================
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is
distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior
interest in receiving the included information for research and
educational purposes.
You are receiving this message because you are signed up to be
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For information about Baltimore News Network, Inc., a 501(c)(3)
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