# If ACORN is so evil, why did it take 38 years to notice? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 18, 2009, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-acorn-is-so-evil-why-did-it-take-38-years-to-notice/510515 "2009-09-18T00:16:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Kearsen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/82dd89/32.png) [@Kearsen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kearsen)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-acorn-is-so-evil-why-did-it-take-38-years-to-notice/510515/61 "2009-09-18T16:16:50Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Why, whatever do you mean? Surely, the Republican Party doesn’t actually favor the comfortable and secure, why, that’s just a bunch of lefty propaganda, right? Why would one think that the \*status quo \*is less popular amongst the poor and powerless? If, as I’ve heard so often, the vast majority of Americans are center-right, and naturally conservative, why, any effort to be inclusive is just bound to reap great benefits for Republicans! > > (Furiously batting big, brown innocent eyes…) If by inclusive you mean catering to a favorable Liberal demographic, I agree! I have seen the light. ---
**Author:** ![Syntropy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/65b543/32.png) [@Syntropy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Syntropy)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-acorn-is-so-evil-why-did-it-take-38-years-to-notice/510515/62 "2009-09-18T16:25:45Z")
I don’t know what they have to say, It makes no difference anyway – Whatever it is, I’m against it! No matter what it is or who commenced it, I’m against it! ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-acorn-is-so-evil-why-did-it-take-38-years-to-notice/510515/63 "2009-09-18T16:41:51Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Tell me why people shouldn’t vote. Tell me why reaching out to people who don’t vote isn’t obviously a good thing, if democracy is what you’re about? Believe it or not, some RWs are actually prepared to argue the contrary – see [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=489075) and [this thread.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=279927) ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-acorn-is-so-evil-why-did-it-take-38-years-to-notice/510515/64 "2009-09-18T16:43:26Z")
> [@MOIDALIZE](#): > > Vote suppression of the other side? > > That’s bullshit. What, you’re saying it doesn’t happen? Were you asleep in 2004? ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-acorn-is-so-evil-why-did-it-take-38-years-to-notice/510515/65 "2009-09-18T16:47:07Z")
> [@Kearsen](#): > > If by inclusive you mean catering to a favorable Liberal demographic, I agree! > > I have seen the light. Hello, is this Fatted Calfs 'R Us? Yeah, I’m giving a prodigal son party for **Kearsen** , want to check prices…Really! That much? Hmmm. How much for a quarter pound of veal? ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-acorn-is-so-evil-why-did-it-take-38-years-to-notice/510515/66 "2009-09-18T17:00:12Z")
> [@Kearsen](#): > > I would say no. Because… encouraging more people to participate in a democracy is inherently a bad thing? Because… The government should be the size where you can strangle it in a bathtub? ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-acorn-is-so-evil-why-did-it-take-38-years-to-notice/510515/67 "2009-09-18T17:05:57Z")
> [@Syntropy](#): > > There is nothing wrong with getting people to vote. We should have more participation. If you habitually put (R) after your name, there is lots wrong. The majority of the non-voters are disillusioned poor. If you get more people to vote (just more people, in a non-partisan fashion), you will by definition get more poor people voting, who tend to vote for the “other” party. More participation = less chance of the (R) getting into office. This is why the Republicans must be anti-registration, anti-participation. Then they have to frame this in terms of “fraud prevention” ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-acorn-is-so-evil-why-did-it-take-38-years-to-notice/510515/68 "2009-09-18T17:21:59Z")
ACORN does not target a political philosophy, they target communities and inner cities. Their golas are very similar in many ways to the Democrats, but their mission is to the inner city not the Democratic Party. As others have mentioned if anybody else wishes to enact a different focus…rural areas, trailer parks, whatever, that’s fine. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-acorn-is-so-evil-why-did-it-take-38-years-to-notice/510515/69 "2009-09-18T17:22:01Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > This is why the Republicans must be anti-registration, anti-participation. Then they have to frame this in terms of “fraud prevention” That’s not the only argument they use. There’s also a variation of the “no true Scotsman” argument: that the voters that need to be recruited and encouraged to vote like this are not the best people to take part in choosing the government. That is, those who vote anyway are those who take a proper interest in government, and take the trouble to be informed on political issues. So, the fewer that vote, the better the voters will be at electing the best candidates, and hence the better those that they elect will be. ---
**Author:** ![Kearsen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/82dd89/32.png) [@Kearsen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kearsen)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-acorn-is-so-evil-why-did-it-take-38-years-to-notice/510515/70 "2009-09-18T17:25:25Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > Because… encouraging more people to participate in a democracy is inherently a bad thing? > > Because… The government should be the size where you can strangle it in a bathtub? Try, because the government shouldn’t need to subsidize itself… ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-acorn-is-so-evil-why-did-it-take-38-years-to-notice/510515/71 "2009-09-18T17:29:33Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > That’s not the only argument they use. There’s also a variation of the “no true Scotsman” argument: that the voters that need to be recruited and encouraged to vote like this are not the best people to take part in choosing the government. That is, those who vote anyway are those who take a proper interest in government, and take the trouble to be informed on political issues. So, the fewer that vote, the better the voters will be at electing the best candidates, and hence the better those that they elect will be. Yeah, like that snotty little bitch Al Hamilton! Wish it was Tom Paine who shot him. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-acorn-is-so-evil-why-did-it-take-38-years-to-notice/510515/72 "2009-09-18T17:41:54Z")
> [@Kearsen](#): > > Try, because the government shouldn’t need to subsidize itself… You’re not clear on this whole “voting” thing, are you? The government is not “subsidizing itself” by encouraging more people to register and vote. ---
**Author:** ![MOIDALIZE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-acorn-is-so-evil-why-did-it-take-38-years-to-notice/510515/73 "2009-09-18T18:04:25Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > What, you’re saying it doesn’t happen? Were you asleep in 2004? I was responding to **Sinaijon’s** claim that getting mainly Democratic voters out to the polls was equivalent to suppressing the voice of Republican voters. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-acorn-is-so-evil-why-did-it-take-38-years-to-notice/510515/74 "2009-09-18T18:20:25Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > That’s not the only argument they use. There’s also a variation of the “no true Scotsman” argument: that the voters that need to be recruited and encouraged to vote like this are not the best people to take part in choosing the government. That is, those who vote anyway are those who take a proper interest in government, and take the trouble to be informed on political issues. So, the fewer that vote, the better the voters will be at electing the best candidates, and hence the better those that they elect will be. Which betrays a fundamental misunderstanding of the democratic theory – in H.L. Mencken’s words, “the idea that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard.” We are not all equally moral, or equally intelligent, or equally wise, or equally sophisticated. But we are all equal in one respect: We all have to live in the same society and under the same government. Whatever government decides to do, or not to do, we all have to live with the consequences equally. Citizens of a democracy are not allowed to vote so they can give the body politic the benefit of their wisdom, such as it is. They are allowed to vote so they can defend their own interests. They are allowed to vote so they can make their **will** known and, to some limited extent, acted upon. WRT disenfranchisement of blacks in South Africa, even William F. Buckley once responded to a defender who called the blacks ignorant or stupid, “Democracy is not an intelligence test. It is a way of saying no.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-acorn-is-so-evil-why-did-it-take-38-years-to-notice/510515.md?page=3)