“Thank God for Little Favors”: ACORN and the Liberals

This paper will explore moments of cooperation and collaboration between the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) and liberal Democrats in the 1970s and early 1980s. ACORN practiced a staunchly practical approach to politics, eschewing ideological purity for building power for low- and moderate-income people and communities. Throughout its forty-year history, ACORN worked with liberals in advocacy organizations, foundations, and the Democratic Party; exploring these partnerships opens new windows into political transformation in the late twentieth century. Most partnerships occurred at the local level, but this paper will highlight three moments when ACORN worked closely with liberals at a national level: a short-term partnership with Senator Abourezk (D-SD) in the mid-1970s, the work of the DNC’s Commission on Low- and Moderate-Income Participation in the late 1970s, and the Squatting Campaign in the early 1980s. By highlighting these moments of ACORN-liberal collaboration from the mid-1970s to the early 1980s, this paper will illuminate the promises that such alliances held in this moment of contest over the Democratic Party’s future as well as the sharp limits to what they could accomplish at a national level.