Obama: ACORN 'not advising' campaign

MAUMEE, Ohio, Oct. 15 (UPI) -- Democratic U.S. presidential nominee Barack Obama says a community activist group under siege by Republicans is "not advising our campaign."

Obama, a U.S. senator from Illinois, Tuesday addressed attacks from GOP counterpart Sen. John McCain of Arizona alleging he has close ties with the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or ACORN. McCain alleges the low-income and minority advocacy group, which generally favors Democratic candidates, is perpetrating "voter fraud."

Obama called the allegations "a distraction" and said as a lawyer he had represented ACORN in a 1990s lawsuit. "But they are not advising our campaign," he told reporters in Maumee, Ohio, adding, "We've got the best voter registration and turnout and volunteer operation in politics right now and we don't need ACORN's help," the Washington publication Politico reported.

McCain issued a statement Tuesday saying ACORN had engaged "voter fraud" to "disrupt our political system."

Obama, however, said ACORN isn't accused of actual voter fraud but of submitting fraudulent voter registration forms containing random names or those of celebrities. They were filled in by paid volunteers looking to make work quotas but under law ACORN had to submit them to election officials anyway, he said.