John McCain headlined an event cosponsored by The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) in 2006, the group said today, seeking to imply a shade of hypocrisy in McCain’s recent attacks on the group.
McCain, the group said, was the keynote speaker at a Febrary 2006 immigration rally in Miami, Fla., which ACORN sponsored along with several other groups, including the New American Opportunity campaign (NAOC), the Archdiocese of Miami, the Immigrant Advocacy Center, the Florida Immigrant Coalition, Miami Dade College, People for the American Way/Mi Familia/Vota en Accion, the Service Employees International Union, and UNITE/HERE.
Also at the event were Reps. Kendrick Meek (D-Fla.) and Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.), as well as religious and labor leaders, according to ACORN.
“It has deeply saddened us to see Senator McCain abandon his historic support for ACORN and our efforts to support the goals of low-income Americans,” ACORN Chief Organizer Bertha Lewis said today in a press release.
“Maybe it is out of desperation that Senator McCain has forgotten that he was for ACORN before he was against ACORN; he was for immigration reform before he was against immigration reform; and he was a maverick before he became erratic. We were thrilled to partner with him to help reform the outdated immigration laws in this country, and were pleased to work closely with him on this issue.”
A photo of McCain seated next to Meek, allegedly at the event, has been circulating on the web. See the photo to the right (via MyDD).
McCain’s campaign has launched pointed attacks on ACORN in the past few days, calling for an investigation into the group’s voter registration activities on a conference call with reporters and seeking to call Obama’s record into question by linking him to the group in his early days of Chicago community organizing. A McCain web ad late last week implied shady links between Obama and the group.
The McCain camp has suggested that ACORN helped cause the current U.S. financial collapse by pressing banks to be friendlier to low- and middle-income people.
ACORN has pushed back on the attacks from McCain and other conservatives, launching a counter-effort Friday in its own conference call with reporters, in which the group addressed accusations of voter fraud and said critics want create a false voter fraud crisis to press for voter ID requirements, among other policies.