When Election Fur Flies, Try FactCheck!

I don't need to tell you that 2008 is an election year. Election years mean campaign ads in large quantities and they'll usually be some errors in some ads. Whether those errors are intentional is something I'll leave to the judgment of the reader.

But if these ads have you or your patrons scratching your heads in puzzlement, there is relief at the national level. There is a site called Factcheck.org that is run out of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania. It is non-partisan and in my judgment seems to go after Republicans and Democrats with equal vigor. Here's how they explain their mission:

We are a nonpartisan, nonprofit, "consumer advocate" for voters that aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics. We monitor the factual accuracy of what is said by major U.S. political players in the form of TV ads, debates, speeches, interviews, and news releases. Our goal is to apply the best practices of both journalism and scholarship, and to increase public knowledge and understanding.

Some of their recent articles on misspeaking and misleading have included:

Reprehensible Misrepresentation"
April 24, 2008

A conservative adman striving to regain his Willie Horton notoriety produces a death-penalty dud aimed at Obama.

Misleading Pennsylvania Voters
April 21, 2008

Clinton and Obama trade bogus charges about health care.

Oily Words
April 11, 2008

Clinton and Obama shade the truth as each claims to be tougher on oil companies than the other.

McCain Ads Attack Romney
January 28, 2008

New Web and radio ads by the Arizona senator lack context.

In addition to correcting facts in speeches and debates, FactCheck also answers reader questions when they have wide interest. A few answers out of their mail bag include:

Is it true that even though John McCain calls himself a Republican, he has sided more with the Dems than with the Repubs?
March 8, 2008

Not true at all. He voted in support of President Bush 95 percent of the time last year, for example.

Did Obama say the National Anthem conveys a "war-like message" and should be swapped for something such as "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing"?

No. That's false. The quote was one conservative writer's idea of a joke, which has been picked up and repeated as though it were true in a chain e-mail.

What percentage of the U.S. population makes more than $250,000 per year?

Roughly one in 50 households will take in more than $250,000 next year.

Each article is well documented. You see exactly where FactCheck pulls their corrections from. Occasionally they will make a mistake themselves and will run a correction.

If your library has a web page and you are listing election resources, this would be an excellent addition to it. FactCheck would also be a good post to consult whenever someone comes to you with the latest rumor about a Presidential candidate. If you can't find an answer, then Ask FactCheck. They just might post an answer to your question.