I feel like people here don't realize that McCain has his game changer, it's starting to show up in the daily trackers (today R2K is 50-44). The ACORN issue is a game changer, no doubt about it. Instead of addressing the story, the netroots has chosen to make fun of the media's focus on it. But the masses are taking in the story from CNN, MSNBC, and FOX, and a meme has been established that vote fraudsters are trying to steal the election for Obama.
McCain has been trying since the economic crisis hit to get a game changer that takes voters' minds off the economy and latches on to their fears. The Ayers story did not work. But the ACORN story has stuck. It plays in to a deep fear of 'the other' voting and taking power away from the 'us'. It plays into racial fears. It plays into the socialist/commie/red fears.
The best thing Obama could have done when the story first got broke was to throw ACORN under the bus in a brilliant speech, and also emphasize protecting voting rights. But I think his camp dropped the ball for a few reasons:
One, because the issue of voter fraud is so fraudulent in itself, and such an old GOP trick, they didn't think the media would buy into the vote fraud angle. They probably thought this was even less likely after the Gonzales politicization of the justice department scandals.
Two, they knew McCain would try some way of injecting race into the closing arguments of the election, but thought he would just go to the obvious thing, Rev. Wright. McCain was advised by many on his side, including Palin, to bring out Wright, but the ACORN issue is far better because it's not stale and old. For most of America, they've never ever heard of ACORN until last week. They only know it as a sinister sounding shady organization that uses minorities to steal elections.
Three, they didn't think the media would have the audacity to hit Obama on ACORN's efforts because every one knows that Obama has the best ground game in American politics in recent memory. Obama is the last person to need some shady organization to register voters or round up troops. Obama mentioned this in his statement about ACORN. The Obama camp just didn't think the media would blow this story up.
I think it's too late to throw ACORN under the bus with a speech now. The issue is really dangerous because of the race undertones, and unlike with Rev. Wright, there isn't time to put everything front and center like Obama's Philly speech and let the issue die over time. Obama needs a closing argument splash now, something that will appeal to white voters.