GOP's Michael Steele: Obama and ACORN May Rig Census

That little gem of a topic called ACORN has reared its head again.

The organization that for a time proved to be a bit of an embarrassment to Barack Obama during the presidential campaign is being resurrected by the GOP, which is accusing the Obama administration of "rigging" the Census results.

"President Obama's old friends from ACORN, the leftist, urban 'community' organization with a long history of promoting vote fraud, has been chosen by the Administration as a 'partner' with the Census Bureau to determine population counts in cities around the country," Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele wrote to supporters in an e-mail today. "With this group's track record of coming up with countless fraudulent voter registrations in heavily Democrat areas to sway elections to ultra-liberals, you can be sure they'll be manipulating population numbers as well."

If you need a quick refresher on why ACORN was deemed evil during the campaign, the basics are this: The McCain-Palin campaign and supporters hammered away at Obama for his ties to The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), after it was discovered it may have engaged in voter-registration fraud, and was being investigated in several states. More recently, it was reported that Republicans were concerned that ACORN might receive "billions in aid" from the economic stimulus package. It's sort of like the gift that just keeps on giving to Republicans.

Now, Steele claims, the results of the 2010 Census - taken every 10 years to determine district voting lines - is being threatened by ACORN.

His explanation:

"Why is this important? The U.S. population has shifted in the last ten years. States like Illinois, Michigan, New York and Pennsylvania (all states Obama won in 2008) have smaller populations, and states like Arizona, Georgia and South Carolina (all states that John McCain carried) have gained population. The trend illustrates that urban strongholds, which favor Democrats, continue to lose population to more decentralized areas in states more likely to lean Republican. If the Democrats and their friends at ACORN have their way, the Census will only 'estimate' state populations and therefore be subject to political calculations. And surely their estimate will be far higher than the actual number of people, and voters, present. We must not let the Democrats and their radical leftist allies falsify the U.S. Census and manipulate elections in their favor. Our democracy, and the principle of 'One Person, One Vote'" are in jeopardy."

So how much of a threat would ACORN pose, if it had such an evil plan in mind?

From TPM:

The reapportionment "will probably have a slight net shift in favor of states that John McCain won (and individually some blue states will gain, while some red states will lose). On the other hand, keep in mind that Obama won 365 electoral votes last year, and that the net shift will only be in the single digits. So this whole point is meaningless, because the 2012 Republican nominee will have to actually take a big number of states back into the GOP column, with the reapportionment being nearly immaterial. It's also not true that the blue states have 'smaller' populations - the question is the rate of growth, relative to other states."

Media Matters this week said the GOP and conservatives in the media love to use ACORN as a whipping post (and illegal immigrants) to place blame for current problems - housing and the financial crisis, voter fraud, etc... On the Census issue, Media Matters says media like The Washington Times and FoxNews.com has "uncritically reported that ACORN will be a national partner with the Census Bureau in its effort to recruit more than 1 million temporary workers, baselessly suggesting the group will fraudulently influence the count or that the Obama administration is politicizing the process. However, ACORN is only one of 'more than 250' groups partnering with the Census Bureau to recruit workers."

"We are disappointed, but not surprised, in the report's findings," said Bertha Lewis, CEO and Chief Organizer of ACORN. "ACORN has watched over the years as the right wing has attempted to blame us for everything from the 2008 financial crisis to voter fraud. We hope that this report serves as a wake-up call that we must no longer be used as a kicking post."