ACORN target to season of mud-slinging

Accused of voting registration fraud and with 1.3 million new low-income and minority registered voters, ACORN, Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, is trying desperately not to lose credibility among the American voters with less than a month to election day. “The real issue that the secretaries of state were concerned about for years was the low levels of participation, this is the year we can break through that,” said Miles Rapoport, President of Demos, as he joined other voting experts at the National Press Club to discuss this elections voting registration issues.

According to Rapoport, allegations and fraud should be investigated and prosecuted if needed. “... The actual incident of [voting fraud] is so small, that to use it as an excuse to try to discourage people.. I think is a serious disservice to our democracy,” Rapoport said. He highlighted that the voting registration fraud issue should be taken seriously but not “blown out of proportion”.

According to Kevin Whelan, spokesman for ACORN, the organization took responsibility for the applications they suspected were invalid and incorrect also admitting it was unacceptably high amount of applications with problems.

As recent as in 2006, Sen. John McCain supported ACORN and the organizations efforts in registering new voters, now saying he instead oppose them. According to Reverend Gloria Swierenga, President, Maryland ACORN, the organization has been a target to a “season of mud-slinging” saying that they are fully aware of the possibility of errors in the voting process. “When we explain to people; this is how you can help build an America that is truly one nation... I think most people take that seriously. ”I think the Pailn-campaign speaks for itself,” Swierenga said.

Mitt Romney: Obama will not win Michigan

As the 2008 presidential election is in it's final stage, former Governor Mitt Romney put faith in the people of Michigan claiming that they will realize that the McCain-Palin ticket is the right one to vote for. "I'm convinced that Michiganders will take a good look at John McCain's position and contrast that with Barack Obama's," Romney said during a press conference call focusing on the Obama campaign's visit to the state. "Senator McCain's prescription for strengthening our housing-market and for strengthening our economy is right," Romney said.

According to Romney, Michigan will be a "winnable state" for Sen. John McCain, saying Obama's regular visits to the state shows his insecurity in wining Michigan. "I think it's a 'must-win' state for Barack Obama, and that's why he's gonna keep coming back and back, trying to nail it down," Romney said. Romney claimed that while Obama wants to expand government spending, McCain is a strong opponent to extensive government spending.

Romney highlighted that raising taxes during the current financial crisis on Wall Street, will not help recovering the economy. According to Romney, Obama's policies will guarantee that America will continue to spend billions of dollars on energy importation, stating it will potentially contribute to even higher gasoline prices.

"His policy saying no to clean coal, no to nuclear and no to drilling, is a policy doomed in my view," Romney said. According to Romney, the Michigan people just need to focus on the presidential candidates policies to find the candidate that will benefit Michigan the most

CODE PINK: Shame on McCain, Shame on Obama

As the Senate is about to vote on the bailout bill intended to relieve the current economic crisis on Wall Street, Code Pink protesters gathered today on the hill to rally against the bill. “Taxpayers revolt” was the theme of the rally, which included both women and men protesting against the bailout bill that the House choose not pass. Now the Code Pink ladies hope that the Senate will follow the House’s example and not pass the bill. “It’s time for the Senate to hear the voice of the people,” Medea Benjamin, cofounder of Code Pink and leader of the protest group.

The Code Pink rally started off outside Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain's (R-Ariz.) office in the Russell Senate Office Building, making statements to the media that the bailout bill should not be passed in Congress before entering the Senator’s office and demonstrating by lying on the floor shouting “BAILOUT? OVER MY DEAD BODY!”

After leaving the Russell Senate Office Building the rally continued at the Hart Senate Office Building were the Code Pink protesters wanted to find out whether Barack Obama's (D-Ill.) would support or reject the bill. After a similar demonstration outside Obama’s office, the protesters announced to the media that the Democratic presidential nominee will most likely vote “yes” to the bill. “If he votes for this bill he’s betraying the America people,” Benjamin said.

McCain's healthcare plan: dangerous to working families

Elizabeth Edwards, Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress Action Fund called the McCain healthcare plan “truly radical” on a conference call today to discuss the danger of McCain’s healthcare plan and to inform the public about issues the healthcare plan will create for working families across the nation. According to Edwards, the financial aspect of health insurance is extremely complex and the solutions will be just as complex. “Senator McCain will leave more Americans on their own to find health insurance,” Edwards said.

According to SEIU Secretary-Treasurer and Chair of Change to Win Anna Burger, families of the middle class in America will be those suffering the most from the McCain healthcare plan. Burger highlighted that the healthcare plan will raise taxes which will leave middle class families losing several thousands dollars if accepting the healthcare plan McCain offers. “Whether we like it or not, the employee-based healthcare system is on its way out,” Burger said, “we need to find other solutions for working families fast.”

According to Burger, due to all the public and media attention on the Wall Street bailout, this is the time for voters to focus on Main Street problems. “We really need solutions for Main Street, not just bailouts for Wall Street,” Burger said.

McCain's campaign from a polling angle

The 2008 presidential election campaign is a margin of errors race, said Bill Mclnturff, lead campaign pollster for the McCain-Palin 2008 campaign today in a conference call discussing the presidential campaign's recent polling as state races are closing in and what impact the approaching debates will have on the polls.

“My entire suspicion of the debates is a black hole, something is going to happen and we'll know more in two and half weeks,” Mclnturff said. According to Mclnturff the election is going to be decided in 12 swing states he referred to as the most competitive states: Colorado, Florida, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri and Nevada followed by New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. “It is an margin of errors race with a very modest change in the key states,” Mclnturff said.

According to Mclnturff, the Latino swing voters are very important due to Obama himself being black, leaving the McCain-Palin campaign dependent on the “soft, persuadable white voters” as Mclturff described them. Mclnturff admitted that the current economic crisis hanging over America is a subject showing changes in the polls and will continue to do so. “I don’t think there’s any fixed or locked point in the American election result,” Mclnturff said.