Acorn’s History Comes Up for Review

Acorn’s current troubles have been years in the making and arise from its own errors and envelope-pushing tactics, as well as attacks by Republicans and conservative commentators, according to a National Public Radio analysis of the group’s history.

With roots in radical activism and a history of campaigns against high-profile business and political targets, the community-organizing group has long attracted corporate and right-wing ire, which some observers attribute to Acorn’s success in providing aid to and increasing voter registration among low-income people, who generally vote Democratic.

But the group’s management missteps, including an embezzlement scandal involving its founder’s brother and the more recent flaps over voter-registration fraud and videos of Acorn staff members seemingly encouraging tax evasion and prostitution, have also fed the group’s image as an unreliable and legally sketchy organization.

In other Acorn news, Stephen Bradberry has been appointed interim administrator of the Louisiana chapter of the group, which has this month seen the firing of its leader, Beth Butler, according to The Times-Picayune, in New Orleans.