McCain Campaign Press Release - McCain-Palin 2008 Launches New Web AD: "ACORN"

ARLINGTON, VA -- Today, McCain-Palin 2008 released its latest web ad, entitled "ACORN." The ad highlights Barack Obama's involvement with ACORN, a group now accused of widespread voter fraud across the country and accused of advocating for the very type of home loans that have led to today's financial crisis. For ACORN, Barack Obama was a critical organizer, and this year, client to the tune of $800,000. As the spotlight turns to ACORN's efforts to defraud our electoral process, Barack Obama owes the American people the truth about his involvement in this group.

VIEW THE WEB AD HERE:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dlnt9maBJA

Script For "ACORN" (WEB :90)

JOHN MCCAIN: I'm John McCain and I approve this message.

ANNCR: Who is Barack Obama?

A man with "a political baptism performed at warp speed."

Vast ambition.

After college, he moved to Chicago.

Became a community organizer.

There, Obama met Madeleine Talbot, part of the Chicago branch of ACORN.

He was so impressive that he was asked to train the ACORN staff.

What did ACORN in Chicago engage in?

Bullying banks.

Intimidation tactics.

Disruption of business.

ACORN forced banks to issue risky home loans.

The same types of loans that caused the financial crisis we're in today.

No wonder Obama's campaign is trying to distance him from the group, saying, "Barack Obama Never Organized with ACORN."

But Obama's ties to ACORN run long and deep.

He taught classes for ACORN.

They even endorsed him for President.

But now ACORN is in trouble.

REPORTER: There are at least 11 investigations across the country involving thousands of potentially fraudulent ACORN forms.

ANNCR: Massive voter fraud.

And the Obama campaign paid more than $800,000 to an ACORN front for get out the vote efforts.

Pressuring banks to issue risky loans.

Nationwide voter fraud.

Barack Obama.

Bad judgment. Blind ambition.

Too risky for America.

AD FACTS: Script For "ACORN" (WEB :90)

JOHN MCCAIN: I'm John McCain and I approve this message. ANNCR: Who is Barack Obama? A man with "a political baptism performed at warp speed." Vast ambition.

• Barack Obama Has Had "A Political Baptism Performed At Warp Speed." "Obama declined to be interviewed for this article, but conversations with more than a dozen friends and colleagues portray his time in Springfield as a political baptism performed at warp speed, engineered by Obama's vast self-confidence and ambition." (Eli Saslow, "From Outsider To Politician," The Washington Post, 10/9/08)

ANNCR: After college, he moved to Chicago. Became a community organizer. There, Obama met Madeleine Talbot, part of the Chicago branch of ACORN. He was so impressive that he was asked to train the ACORN staff.

• Barack Obama Was Invited By Madeleine Talbot To Help Train Her Staff At ACORN. "Several community organizers and Altgeld Gardens tenants confirmed Johnson was working on asbestos but said Obama organized residents to act. 'He got people to vote with their feet' on the issue, organizer Madeleine Talbot said. At the time, Talbot worked at the social action group ACORN and initially considered Obama a competitor. But she became so impressed with his work that she invited him to help train her staff." (Letta Tayler And Keith Herbert, "Chicago's Streets Obama's Teacher," Newsday, 3/2/08)

• In 1992, Barack Obama Was Hired By ACORN To Run A Voter Registration Effort. "Indeed, Mr. Obama has extensive connections with the granddaddy of activist groups, Acorn (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now), which has gotten millions in government grants for its low-income housing programs. In 1992, Acorn hired Mr. Obama to run a voter registration effort. He later became a trainer for the group, as well as its lawyer in election law cases. Acorn's political arm has endorsed Mr. Obama while its 'voter education' arm has pledged to spend $35 million to register people this fall -- despite a history of vote fraud scandals that have led to guilty pleas by many Acorn employees." (John Fund, "Obama's Liberal Shock Troops," The Wall Street Journal, 7/12/08)

ANNCR: What did ACORN in Chicago engage in? Bullying banks. Intimidation tactics. Disruption of business. ACORN forced banks to issue risky home loans. The same types of loans that caused the financial crisis we're in today.

• ACORN Led Protests At Banks To Force Them To Issue Risky Home Loans. "Various ACORN chapters across the country, led by folks like Chicago's Madeline Talbott, staged in-your-face protests in bank lobbies and filed complaints meant to hold up mergers sought by targeted banking firms. Talbott & Co. generally wanted them to ease down-payment requirements and ignore weak credit histories. And their intimidating tactics often necessitated police action, as at a '97 protest at Pulaski Bank & Trust in Arkansas, where activists blocked drive-through lanes." (Editorial, "The Meltdown's Acorn," New York Post, 9/29/08)

• ACORN Forced Banks To Issue Shaky Loans By Pressuring The Banks. "ACORN recognized very early the opportunity presented by the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) of 1977. As Stanley Kurtz has reported, ACORN proudly touted 'affirmative action' lending and pressured banks to make subprime loans. Madeline Talbott, a Chicago ACORN leader, boasted of 'dragging banks kicking and screaming' into dubious loans. And, as Sol Stern reported in City Journal, ACORN also found a remunerative niche as an 'advisor' to banks seeking regulatory approval." (Mona Charen, "Guilty Party: ACORN, Obama, and the mortgage mess," National Review Online, 9/30/08)

ANNCR: No wonder Obama's campaign is trying to distance him from the group, saying, "Barack Obama Never Organized with ACORN."

• The Obama Campaign: "Barack Obama Never Organized With ACORN" (Barack Obama For President Website, http://fightthesmears.com/articles/20/acornrumor, Accessed 10/4/08)

ANNCR: But Obama's ties to ACORN run long and deep. He taught classes for ACORN.

• Obama Directed Project Vote And Later Taught Classes For "Future Leaders Identified By ACORN And The Centers For New Horizons." "He [Obama] says he is drawn to politics, despite its superficialities, as a means to advance his real passion and calling: community organization. ... In 1992 Obama took time off to direct Project Vote, the most successful grass-roots voter-registration campaign in recent city history. Credited with helping elect Carol Moseley-Braun to the U.S. Senate, the registration drive, aimed primarily at African-Americans, added an estimated 125,000 voters to the voter rolls--even more than were registered during Harold Washington's mayoral campaigns. 'It's a power thing,' said the brochures and radio commercials. ... Obama continues his organizing work largely through classes for future leaders identified by ACORN and the Centers for New Horizons on the south side." (Hank De Zutter, Op-Ed, "What Makes Obama Run?" Chicago Reader, 12/8/95)

ANNCR: They even endorsed him for President.

• ACORN's Political Action Committee Endorsed Obama. "[A]CORN's political action committee endorsed Barack Obama for President. ... The endorsement reflects a belief that Obama -- who worked as a community organizer on the South Side of Chicago -- understands that change must come from the ground-up, as part of a working coalition, rather than from position papers." (Katrina Vanden Heuvel, Op-Ed, "ACORN: Obama Gets It," The Nation, 2/23/08)

ANNCR: But now ACORN is in trouble. REPORTER: There are at least 11 investigations across the country involving thousands of potentially fraudulent ACORN forms. ANNCR: Massive voter fraud.

• FOX News' Eric Shawn: "But There Are At Least 11 Investigations Across The Country Involving Thousands Of Potentially Fraudulent ACORN Forms." (FOX News' "Special Report," 10/8/08)

ANNCR: And the Obama campaign paid more than $800,000 to an ACORN front for get out the vote efforts. Pressuring banks to issue risky loans. Nationwide voter fraud. Barack Obama. Bad judgment. Blind ambition. Too risky for America.

• Obama's Campaign "Paid More Than $800,000" To ACORN For Get-Out-The Vote Efforts; The Campaign Originally "Misrepresented" The Group's Work To The FEC. "U.S. Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign paid more than $800,000 to an offshoot of the liberal Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now for services the Democrat's campaign says it mistakenly misrepresented in federal reports. An Obama spokesman said Federal Election Commission reports would be amended to show Citizens Services Inc. -- a subsidiary of ACORN -- worked in 'get-out-the-vote' projects, instead of activities such as polling, advance work and staging major events as stated in FEC finance reports filed during the primary." (David M. Brown, "Obama To Amend Report On $800,000 In Spending," Pittsburgh Tribune Review, 8/22/08)