MO Senate Candidate Robin Carnahan’s Ties to ACORN

A few weeks ago we blogged about the Missouri GOP's website that ties Missouri Secretary of State and Senate candidate Robin Carnahan to ACORN. An opinion piece in yesterday's News-Leader (Springfield, MO) continues to question those ties. Knowledge of the relationship surfaced as a "Sunshine Law" request (Missouri's FOIA) made by the Missouri GOP for emails to and from ACORN and Carnahan's office. Lloyd Smith, Executive Director of the Missouri, GOP writes:

These e-mails show the lengths Carnahan's office went to accommodate the group. Top ACORN officials lauded her office for "having the ability to share information." They asked "very quick research question(s)," which Carnahan's staff was happy to provide. They said "we'll do an event whenever Robin can make it to St. Louis, though book closing date is best."

Perhaps most shocking was an e-mail sent after the defeat of a common sense proposal, opposed by Carnahan, that would have required a photo identification to vote. ACORN congratulated Carnahan's office and a host of liberal groups on "a great team effort."

It's no wonder ACORN called Carnahan "helpful" in a lawsuit that netted them $450,000 from Missouri taxpayers.

Carnahan initially defended herself by claiming she had no ties to ACORN. Later "she backtracked and said it was a normal working relationship." To be fair, none of the emails requested came from Carnahan herself, however, she is responsible for how her office conducts business. Ultimately, politicization at the lower levels of the Secretary of State's office would be extremely detrimental to the running of clean and fair elections.

More from Smith:

For their part, ACORN admitted they had a cozy relationship with Carnahan but asserted that the relationship was "mandated" by her position as secretary of state. Such a statement makes it clear that ACORN feels entitled to special access to Carnahan's office, an attitude fostered by the five years worth of Carnahan's open-door policies towards the group.

Smith makes a good point there. ACORN undoubtedly has an entitlement issue. They feel entitled to be intricately involved with the making and carrying out of public policy. The results haven't been pretty. Its role in the mortgage meltdown, involvement in voter registration fraud, and their inability to prevent their employees from sanctioning illegal behavior (see the ACORN videos by O'Keefe and Giles) all demonstrate the need for both state and federal governments to distance themselves from the organization. This applies to scenarios where ACORN has considerable influence on the state's chief elections official and within Congress where members share ACORN's belief that they are entitled to federal funding. Here's to hoping that Carnahan doesn't join the blind defenders of ACORN in Congress like Rep. Jerrold Nadler.