Why have the Republicans redoubled their attacks on the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) as Obama’s lead increases?

During the third debate, McCain claimed with the straightest face he managed all night that ACORN was destroying the fabric of our democracy.

ACORN did register over a million new voters in the last two years, most of whom are expected to break for Obama. However, the authorities are only questioning a few thousand registrations in each of the states where ACORN is being investigated.

Registering ficitional voters doesn’t translate into additional votes in any case. Nobody is going to show up to vote as Mickey Mouse, especially not with the new federal ID requirements. In fact, paid canvassers were taking advantage of ACORN by submitting made up names to fill their registration quotas.

The ACORN fight isn’t about winning the election, it’s about stoking resentment after the loss. Republicans are attacking ACORN to lay the groundwork for a "stabbed in the back" narrative to explain, if necessary, why their guy got beat by a black man and his millions of supporters around the country.