Thursday, November 26, 2009

Opinion

5 Misleading Presidential Campaign Ads

Some recent campaign ads needed some fact-checking before airing

Posted September 5, 2008

1. John McCain, "Expensive Plans"—The ad claims that Obama and congressional Democrats will implement "painful tax increases on working American families" and cause "years of deficits." Obama's plan would in fact cut taxes for the majority of American households, benefiting the middle-class. McCain's program could also lead to "years of deficits."

2. Barack Obama, "Fix the Economy"—The ad lifts McCain quotes such as "I don't believe we're headed into a recession" and "There's been great progress economically" from longer responses and fails to include the context and other statements where McCain admitted that the economy is struggling right now.

3. John McCain, "Tiny"—The ad quotes Obama as saying Iran is a "tiny country that "doesn't pose a serious threat." Obama actually said that Iran, Cuba and Venezeula are "tiny compared to the Soviet Union" and those countries don't pose a serious threat "the way the Soviet Union posed a threat to us."

4. Barack Obama, "Ohio Jobs"—The ad says McCain opposed a 2003 amendment to help DHL buy Wilmington, Ohio-based Airborne Express and that the merger is the direct cause of the job losses in Ohio. McCain said he did not oppose the amendment to help DHL and there is little evidence that the merger caused the loss of 8,000 jobs.

5. John McCain, "Housing Problem"—The ad says power broker Tony Rezko bought part of Obama's house that Obama couldn't afford and that in return Rezko received "$14 million from taxpayers." Rezko's wife bought an adjoining tract of Obama's property but later sold it, and the $14 million was to build apartments for low-income seniors.

Source: FactCheck.org

Reader Comments

public opinion

opinions are lame.

keep you own thoughtsd in your head, and just vote for obama, he owns.

OBAMA

obama obama obama obama, ladies and gentlemen, the president of the united state, barack o bamam, obmama obama.

Rezko

In fact, Rezko's wife purchased the adjoining property and Obama purchased a part of that property and then Mrs Rezko sold the "remainder" of the property. Check your facts.

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