http://www.chicagotr...,0,815315.story
8:19 AM CDT, October 20, 2008
CALEDONIA, Wis.
Police in Caledonia say they're investigating a weekend attack on a Barack Obama campaign worker.
Nancy Takehara tells WISN-TV she drove from Chicago to help canvass a neighborhood in Caledonia Saturday on behalf of the Democratic presidential nominee.
Ronald Goetsch says he had a heated verbal exchange with Takehara over allegations of voter improprieties in other states and the role of voter registration groups and asked her numerous times to leave his property.
Takehara says Goetsch grabbed her by the back of the neck and was pounding her head and screaming.
Goetsch tells The Journal Times in Racine that he did pull the woman's hair and regrets his actions.
Police say their report on the incident will be forwarded to the Racine County District Attorney's office when it's complete.
Right wing demonization of Liberals, Democrats, Voter Registration Activists, etc. have consequences. Here you see them coming home to roost. So much of the dialog of the Right is designed to inflame their supporters, and it is largely baseless. The ACORN case is a good example. The "Voter Fraud" we keep hearing about is actually a fraud being perpetrated against ACORN by their paid contractors. The only group hurt by it is ACORN, because it's costing them money. The vast majority of the fraudulent registrations are flagged (by ACORN) and never registered in the first place, and the vast majority of the ones that make it through the registration process never vote. It has no effect on the election, so the whole thing is a tempest in a teapot, designed only to inflame knuckleheads like Goetsch. As a result of the Right's campaign against "Registration Fraud", ACORN has changed their methodology to avoid it. They now pay by the hour instead of by the registration. The net result may well be fewer valid registrations, which is exactly what the Right wants. They know that if everyone voted, they wouldn't win, because their policies mainly benefit the powerful.
