Q: Can a convicted felon serve in elected office? A: The Constitution allows a convicted felon, such as Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens, to be a member of Congress, even if in prison. It’s up to the Senate or House to decide who may serve. As for state offices, different laws apply in different places. Click to read more Read More →
We’ve seen a lot of misleading spam this season claiming Sen. Barack Obama is guilty of one or all of the following: He won’t place his hand over his heart for the national anthem. He refuses to wear a flag pin. He replaced the American flag on his campaign plane with his campaign logo. He has listened to Rev. Jeremiah Wright say offensive remarks such as “God damn America.” Now the claims have appeared in an ad from the conservative group Our Country Deserves Better PAC.... Click to read more
The McCain-Palin campaign announced today that it will release “its latest television ad” called “Tiny.” But it’s not the campaign’s newest ad - not by a long shot. The ad was announced and aired in August when it was also described as the campaign’s “latest television ad.” In a press release, the campaign claims the ad was released in light of comments reportedly made by French President Nicolas Sarkozy describing Sen. Barack Obama’s position... Click to read more
Sen. Obama was somewhat misleading when he claimed 100 percent of Sen. McCain ad’s were negative. His claim is backed up only in so far as it regards a single week examined by the Wisconsin Advertising Project of the University of Wisconsin. In an Oct. 8 report, they concluded that, “during the week of September 28-October 4, nearly 100 percent of the McCain campaign’s advertisements were negative. During the same period, 34 percent of the Obama campaign’s ads were negative.” Read More →
The right-leaning Vets for Freedom, in an effort to drum up support for a resolution heralding “the strategic success of the troop surge in Iraq,” released this ad Oct. 1 in California. The ad, which criticizes Sen. Barack Obama, represents a $2.2 million buy - the largest statewide airtime purchase by the organization to date: But the ad is off on claims we’ve already addressed, and it’s misleading on a few new ones. It claims that Obama “skipped 45 percent of Senate... Click to read more
The McCain-Palin campaign released a new ad called “Promise,” which the campaign says will air nationally. But it contains a whopper we’ve addressed a few times: The ad claims Sen. Barack Obama “voted to cut off funding for our troops.” But a McCain campaign press release announcing the ad cites the same vote we addressed in an earlier article on this misleading claim. The fact is, while it’s true Obama voted against a GOP-backed troop funding bill once, he voted... Click to read more
The Internet is abuzz with the rumor that Palin’s youngest child, Trig, is not actually her son but her grandson, born to her teenage daughter Bristol and adopted by Palin to cover up the scandal. Aside from a DNA test, it’s unlikely we’ll convince the hard-core conspiracy theorists and skeptics that this rumor is totally false (it could be argued that not even a DNA test would suffice for some). But this photo, which has been making its way around the Web, shows a very pregnant... Click to read more
We generally don’t take it upon ourselves to parse ABC’s morning gabfest. But we noticed that when the chat turned to Palin’s record on earmarks McCain got it wrong. He was correct on one point: Palin vetoed $500 million in spending as governor. She axed over $230 million in state spending in 2007. And the Anchorage Daily News reported that she lopped off another $268 million in spending for 2008. But then the ladies shot back with this: Barbara Walters: She also took some earmark... Click to read more
