Does the ACORN fall far from the tree?

The Los Angeles Times has a story by Johanna Neuman:

For weeks, conservative political circles have been buzzing with rumors that a grassroots organization called the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) has been fraudulently registering low-income Americans to vote. There were reports that Mickey Mouse was registered in Florida, that a man named Freddie Johnson registered 73 times, that somehow ACORN was a front organization to elect Democrat Barack Obama.
Today, the ranking Republican on the House Judiciary Committee asked the Bush administration's Justice Department to investigate. In a statement, Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas) said:

Reports that ACORN registered Mickey Mouse to vote are deeply disturbing. American voters depend on their government to ensure that their votes are fairly counted in an election. Unfortunately, organizations like ACORN that perpetuate voter fraud continue to plague the American electoral system. Congress must make it clear that ACORN, and organizations like it, will not be allowed to steal votes and potentially influence elections.

Both sides in the presidential race have accused the other of ties to ACORN.
Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, in an e-mail to supporters, noted that ACORN has endorsed Obama. The Alaska governor added, "We can't allow leftist groups like ACORN to steal this election." Democrats responded by noting that Republican John McCain spoke at a pro-immigration rally co-sponsored by ACORN in 2006. For his part, Obama said today that his relationship with ACORN stemmed from more than a decade ago, when as a young lawyer he represented the group as it tried to implement the motor-voter law in Illinois that allows voter registration at driver registration agencies. And, in a news conference, he noted that voter fraud does not occur until citizens try to vote.

This isn't actually a situation where people who are going to try to vote, because these are phony names. It's doubtful that Tony Romo is going to show up in Ohio to vote. So, this is another one of these distractions that gets stirred up during the course of a campaign. What I want to make sure of though, is that this is not used as an excuse for the kind of voter suppression tactics that strategies and tactics that we've seen in the past. Let's make sure everybody is voting, everybody is registered, everybody is doing this is a lawful way.

With local officials in several states, including Nevada, investigating suspicious voter registrations produced by ACORN, the organization also is fighting back. Spokesman Scott Levenson told Fox News that Obama's campaign did not, as rumored, pay $800,000 to ACORN, but paid that amount to CSI, a private organization, which in turn hired ACORN for $80,000 to get out the vote in the primaries.
Today, Levenson said that his group was being demonized for trying to "empower the powerless and enfranchise the disenfranchised." Noting that ACORN itself alerted local officials to instances in which its registrations might not be valid, as required by law, Levenson said he was proud of the organization's record of registering 1.3 million voters. In an interview with CNN, he said complaints from Republicans are "a sad, cynical sign of how desperate the McCain campaign is."