Posted on 06/24/2004 10:06:08 PM PDT by Jenya
A left-wing group with ties to Sen. John F. Kerry's presidential campaign is hiring convicted sex offenders and batterers to go door-to-door to register voters in several battleground states.
Officials with America Coming Together, a nonprofit group heavily pushing Kerry's campaign agenda, conceded last night they hire cons in some states but insist the public is in no danger.
``We believe it's important to give people a second chance,'' Mo Elleithee, spokesman for ACT in Washington, D.C., told The Associated Press.
ACT operates regionally in New Hampshire and Maine, two key swing states Kerry badly needs to win. In the Granite State, the ACT operation is run by longtime Kerry ally Dennis Newman, a Boston lawyer.
The group's New Hampshire spokeswoman said no convicted felons have been hired there but said none have yet applied.
``The policy is to not employ people who have been convicted of violent felonies,'' said spokeswoman Delacey Skinner. ``We would not do anything in any way to put people in danger as we do our canvassing.''
The Kerry campaign said it has no knowledge of the ACT operation since federal law prohibits coordination between campaigns and interest groups.
``The Kerry campaign cannot coordinate (with them), it's against the law,'' spokesman Michael Meehan said. ``We don't know anything about it.''
According to the AP report, felons work as canvassers in major metropolitan areas in Missouri, Florida and Ohio.
The wire service's review of criminal records showed the names and hometowns of dozens of ACT employees in those states matched those of people convicted of crimes such as burglary, drug dealing, assault and sex offenses.
Among other things, the canvassers request voter telephone numbers and Social Security numbers.
ACT is one of several controversial groups, so-called 527s named after the code of federal law that creates them, trying to fight behind the scenes this campaign season.
On its Web site, ACT openly campaigns against President Bush [related, bio], saying its canvassers are ``laying the groundwork to defeat Bush and elect Democrats in federal, state and local elections in 2004.''
ACT is unapologetic about its hiring of cons, saying they pose no threat to the public.
``The fact that they are willing to do this work is a fairly serious indication that they want to become productive members of society,'' said Elleithee, the ACT national spokesman.
While campaigning chiefly to benefit Kerry, the group has ties to almost every major Democrat - not just the Bay State senator.
Newman, the New Hampshire director, worked for Vice President Al Gore in the last election while Skinner, the New Hampshire spokeswoman, formerly worked on former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean's campaign in South Carolina. Elleithee is a former aide to retired Gen. Wesley Clark - another of Kerry's former primary opponents.
Sounds like Kerry is testing out prospective cabinet members
Unbelievable. They are sending convicted criminals house to house? What a wonderful opportunity to find new victims.
What's even funnier .. over in AZ, the Nader group has already gathered a lot of sigs to get Nader on the ballot .. guess who they used to do that .. FELONS. You'll never guess who has filed a complaint and told the Nader group that hiring the felons was ILLEGAL - none other than the DNC. LOL!
It's legal to use felons for voter registration, but it's not legal to use felons which help Nader .. okay .. I get that!
You know, I just saw this after viewing the photo of Bush with the young girl. After being moved to tears, this was a disgusting wake up call to the evils of this country.
Not to mention that when they are out doing this, even if they don't go door to door...they are getting personal info on folks. I'm not sure...but for some reason...I'M THINKING THAT GIVING YOUR PERSONAL INFO TO A FELON MAY BE A BAD IDEA!!!!!!!!!
Somebody could get hurt from this crap.
It's the Democrats' new "Canvass and Case" program for burglars, sex offenders, and drug addicts.
Sounds like a plan.
Mike Dukakis' Lt. Governor
sure, take a furlough, rape and kill some people and, please, take the time to register them to vote for Kerry, would you please?
O.K., a felon loses his voting rights; correct? O.K., so a felon cannot be a registered voter. O.K., so one must be a registered voter to register voters. Then all the people they registered are illegally registered. Am I right or wrong?
Hey, more power to the sKerry team.
They'll be attracting votes like flys on poo when "Jimmy the snake", "Bubba the crusher" and "Freddie Kruger II" come a knock-knock-knockin'.
The two party system rules !
conceded last night they hire cons in some states but insist the public is in no danger.
So why did I receive a recorded phone message warning me that paid signature gathers could be a danger to getting important information on me?
Aw, the ole Flip/Flop lives on.
I think you are, but it's best to check with your local county clerks office. They could direct you to the right person to answer your questions.
Uh, is this post #6 or 7 of the same story? I've lost track.
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