FactCheck.org summarized the latest Republican hopefuls debate writing
Pollsters will inform
us whether the third time was the charm for any of these candidates in
the eyes of potential voters. All we can do is remind you not to
believe everything you hear.
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney committed the biggest factual fouls of the night, misleadingly asserting:
- That we went to war in Iraq because Saddam Hussein refused to allow weapons inspectors to come in
- That
there’s an ocean of difference between his Massachusetts health plan
and those “government takeover” plans of “every Democrat” running for
president and
- That Russia’s income from oil exports is vastly larger than it actually is.
Other candidates committed factual trespass, too. Sen.
John McCain of Arizona ignored the waste disposal issue when he praised
nuclear power for being green, for instance, and Kansas Sen. Sam
Brownback exaggerated the number of illegal immigrants living in the
United States.
So things are getting better. Mitt Romney needs to do more research before he opens his mouth as he works to spin his future as President of the United States–I mean, we deserve better from presidential candidates than misleading statements and exaggeration of facts that are easily checked. While the others misspoke a bit there was nothing there that cannot be attributed to bombast and zeal.
I keep making the point that the American people deserve more from those that would seek positions of extreme leadership. Both the Democratic and Republican candidates seem to think that telling any old kind of story is appropriate because the folks that will be voting for them will not care enough to dig beyond the spin. We are all at fault because we have let politicians get away with campaigning on spin rather than on ideas and truth. The press fails to call political candidates on their gross errors. The politicians feel the need to out-perform one another as if running for president was nothing more than a long running series like American Idol.
One way to eliminate the problem might be to shorten the campaign season. Two years of running for president is far too long and far too costly to produce anything more than mediocrity in the long term.
Technorati Tags: campaign 2008, politics, spin control,
Oh Roger…It looks like you’re running the spin room. What I find so funny is that people are saying that you’re overestimating the illegal immigrant population. How can anyone really know. You got different types of illegals. You got the ones that just crossed the border and you got those that overstayed their visas. I don’t know if those are counted in the 12 million figures that is often cited. When/If they get their amnesty, we’ll have a better understanding. Even then not all will register, pay the fines, etc.
Oh Roger…It looks like you’re running the spin room.
Come on now, be fair. All I am doing is reporting what others have said. My problem is not particularly about the particulars of what these over ambitious politicians have to say bit with the fact that their speech does not square with the facts. Stop the spin and tell the truth…whatever that is.
Come on now, be fair. All I am doing is reporting what others have said.
I know…I had to pick on ya…
I know you got a juicy gun control article just waiting to be posted…Oh maybe you got an article on unions, taxes, or corruption in DC.
Naw you can’t talk about corruption in DC b/c one of your boys (Dollar Bill Jefferson) is under indictment.
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