This is a story that I’ve been working on for a while now, and I’ve finally gotten all my ducks in a row, to quote Athens County CorruptoDemocrat Party Chairwoman Susan Gwinn.

Back in October, US House Representative Darrell Issa (R, CA-49) released news that his office had, in its possession a document from Ohio ACORN offices which documented the byzantine progressive “community organizing” group’s plan to influence Ohio state and national elections.  Issa is the Ranking Member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

The document, entitled “OHIO 2007-08 Political Plan” was written by Katy Gall, Mari Engelhardt, and Jeremy Mitchell.  Gall has served as the “Ohio ACORN Head Organizer” since 2005, according to LinkedIn.

Engelhardt is listed on the document as being the “ACORN Political Director, Midwest”, a fact that her LinkedIn account collaborates.

The third person, Mitchell, is listed on the document as being the Ohio ACORN Legislative Director, but I can not find a reference for him online.

The executive summary of the report states that:

[...] the election of 2008 will be the most important national election in a generation and presents an unmatched opportunity for progressives to win the White House, build a progressive majority in the House and Senate, pave the way for the post-2010 redistricting struggle, and hold progressive candidates accountable for implementing progressive public policies.  The following political plan is designed to mobilize key progressive constituencies in a strategic locations in order to capitalize on this opportunity.

Huh.  They’re openly admitting that they plan to campaign on behalf of candidates they like, such the obliquely referenced “progressive” they want to help put into the White House.  I wonder who that’d be?

This accusation that ACORN and the Obama campaign maintained an incestuous relationship dovetails nicely with a posting on leftist cesspool OhioDailyBlog marked as being from the lips of the aforementioned Mari Englehardt:

GOTV for Obama! Ohio ACORN is doing a Get Out The Vote project with the OBAMA Campaign.  Ohio ACORN is hiring canvassers to go door to door encouraging voters to vote for Barack Obama.

ACORN is hiring in Cleveland (216)431-3905, Columbus (614)425-9491, Cincinnati (513)221-1737, for Dayton (call Cincinnati), and for Toledo call Cleveland. Or email polnatoh@acorn.org and your inquiry will be routed to the appropriate person in each of these cities. Intake and training will be held daily at local ACORN offices. Canvass begins on Wednesday Feb. 27th and will work through election day. Please, only persons wishing to work all or most of these days (Saturday and Sunday included) should inquire.

Please do not contact the Obama campaign directly regarding this post as they are not the organization doing the hiring and it will only distract their staff and volunteers from the other important work they are doing on behalf of Senator Obama.

Note that this work is described as being done “on behalf of Senator Obama” and they’re going “door-to-door encouraging voters to vote for Barack Obama.”  In other words, they were working hand-in-glove with a political campaign, which is illegal.

The ACORN plan lists as some of their pet projects as being “economic justice measure[s]” such as “minimum wage or health care reform.”  Go figure.  ACORN sees health care “reform” as part of their mission, and the ACORN-associated president sees it as his mission.  The plan also lists the long-term effects of a sucessfully executed strategy as “[building] a progressive electoral majority, [shaping] the political dialogue, [building] a permanent progressive political infrastructure, [...] and [winning] real concrete benefits.”

The 2006 minimum-wage increase in Ohio is counted as a feather in ACORN’s hat; the plan speaks of a “multi-state ballot iniatitive strategy around an increase in the minimum wage” that “raised the economic justice issue to the forefront in campaigns for Governor and Congress across the country,” thanks to the help of “ACORN organizers [convening] coalitions and campaign committees.”

The plan speaks of the “ACORN Permanent Campaign” being more effective than “continuous campaigns” because voters can tell the difference between a campaign office and a “permanent organization—rooted in the community with long-term home grown leaders. [...] Most of ACORN’s local chapter members have visisted their local ACORN office for free tax preparation, housing assistance[...]” You get the picture.

The report goes on to target specific Congressional and State Represenative races, working for “the candidates who most closely align with a progressive Working Families Agenda.”

It is here were we can clearly see which Congressmen were selected as the “progressive Working Families Agenda” candidates.

Included in this list of ACORN-approved candidates are the “Blue Dog Democrats” Steve Driehaus ( “Zach Space” [sic]. Coming to no surprise to anyone who knows her, the openly socialist Mary Jo Kilroy gets the ACORN Stamp of Approval, as does Ohio State Representative Jason Wilson. Jason is the son of US House Representative Charlie Wilson (OH-06).

US House Representative Jim Jordan (OH-04) has asked Ohio’s Secretary of State and current US Senate candidate Jennifer Brunner to look into the allegations, and I’ve actually had the opportunity to speak with Rep. Jordan’s press secretary, Meghan Snyder.  Jordan is also on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

In addition to being a charming young woman, Snyder was gracious enough to provided me with their copy of the ACORN Political Plan, as well as the letter they sent to Jenn Brunner, as well as Tony Bledsoe (Executive Director of the Office of the Legislative Inspector General) and Philip C. Richter (Executive Director of the Ohio Elections Commission).

I don’t know about the other two, but I do know that the head of ACORN’s “Project VOTE,” Karyn Gillette, served as Brunner’s campaign consultant in 2006, and that ACORN regularly took credit for Brunner’s electoral law reforms during the past few years.

I e-mailed the Secretary of State’s office, asking for comment regarding Rep. Jordan’s requests for all documentation of the relationship between Secretary of State Brunner and ACORN.

Press hack and Official Liar Kevin Kidder e-mailed me back, saying that “What I can tell you is that Secretary Brunner has received the letter and is reviewing it. She will respond in due time.”

Uh-huh. I also chose to duplicate Rep. Jordan’s request, and Kidder replied “For your other requests, I have forwarded those to our legal division for follow-up as public records requests. They will be in contact with you shortly.” That was two days ago.

What does this all mean? It means that not only are some of the most influential “Blue Dog Democrats,” the so-called “fence-sitters” that are fiscally conservative and have all our best interests in mind… really are dyed-in-the-wool socialists.

It means this infestation isn’t just a Washington phenomenon, there are ACORN agents in the Statehouse in Columbus, too.

It means that we can chatter about on our blogs and tweet about it all we want, but until we vote out the bastards that ACORN had kiss the ring, it matters for naught.

Cross-posted at my blog, Athens Runaway.