YES, REPUBLICAN VOTERS THINK ACORN STILL EXISTS -- BECAUSE FOX KEEPS SAYING SO

Perhaps you've seen this, from Public Policy Polling:

49% of GOP voters nationally say they think that ACORN stole the election for President Obama. We found that 52% of Republicans thought that ACORN stole the 2008 election for Obama, so this is a modest decline, but perhaps smaller than might have been expected given that ACORN doesn't exist anymore.

Jamelle Bouie is skeptical:

Kevin Drum calls this evidence of the "Fox News effect" -- the process by which conservative propaganda outlets convince their viewers of things that just aren't true -- but I think there's a better, more charitable explanation. In short, a large number of Republicans don't like President Obama, and when offered a chance to endorse something that signals that dislike, they did it, even if the "something" is absolutely insane.

But why would Republicans, and Fox News viewers in particular, regard the possibility of ACORN voter fraud in 2012 as "absolutely insane"? Because ACORN doesn't exist anymore? Please note that Fox News keeps telling its viewers that ACORN still does exist -- at least in altered form.

* FoxNews.com, October 26, 2011: "EXCLUSIVE: ACORN Playing Behind Scenes Role in 'Occupy' Movement"

... The former director of New York ACORN, Jon Kest, and his top aides are now busy working at protest events for New York Communities for Change (NYCC)....

* FoxNews.com, February 13, 2012: "ACORN-linked group raising funds for California 'Occupy' protest"

A re-branded ACORN branch in California is raising money to help fund an upcoming "Occupy" protest in Sacramento, FoxNews.com has learned.

The Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment sent out letters this month pleading for contributions of up to $20,000....

* Fox Nation, June 7, 2012: "WATCHDOG: Former ACORN Director Gets $445M from Taxpayers"

The Obama Administration has given a former director at the scandal-plagued Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) nearly half a billion dollars to offer "struggling" Illinois homeowners mortgage assistance, a Judicial Watch investigation has found....

* FoxNews.com, July 19, 2012: "Taxpayer watchdog calls on IRS to probe re-branded Texas ACORN branch"

The former Texas ACORN chapter has a new name and a scheme to collect donations and divert them for political use in a way that abuses tax laws governing charitable organizations, according to a Washington-based public interest group....

* Fox Nation, August 28, 2012: "Report: 170 ACORN-Affiliated Groups Still Active"

Many of ACORN's affiliates, allies, and old chapters remain active under different names -- and at least two have received federal dollars --despite the left-wing community-organizing group's official dissolution and ban on receiving federal funds, according to a new report....

And my favorite:

* Fox Nation, five days ago: "ACORN Messing With Your Big Mac"

The New York Times reports that union organizers are trying to convince fast food workers to unionize.

The effort is being led by New York Communities for Change which is the name of the reorganized and rebranded former ACORN office in Brooklyn....

As it turns out, every person who ever worked for ACORN hasn't been summarily executed or sent to a gulag for life -- because, presumably, the vast majority of them haven't done anything illegal or immoral. Thus, Fox and the rest of the wingnut press are determined to expose every single ex-ACORNer and make the case that massive subversion of the American way of life is still taking place, and it's still ACORN's fault.

So, yeah, Republicans do still literally believe this.