ACORN fights back

ACORN, the community activist group under assault by Republicans for alleged voter registration fraud, is fighting back.

Today, it launched a 30-second ad calling on GOP presidential candidate John McCain to end what it calls "voter suppression" activities. At a press conference, ACORN detailed a lawsuit that it and allied groups are filing against voter suppression in New Mexico.

ACORN is under investigation by the FBI and several states for submitting false voter registration applications. McCain and Republicans have used that to warn of possible widespread fraud on Nov. 4 and to note that Democratic rival Barack Obama's campaign gave ACORN $800,000 to help get out the vote during the Democratic primaries.

Obama's campaign has retaliated by asserting that McCain, the Bush administration, and political operatives are in cahoots to go after ACORN and discourage voters.

ACORN initially claimed that it had registered 1.3 million new voters, but the New York Times reported last week that the real number is more like 450,000.