Political truths in eye of the beholder
AP Photo
Analysis
(CBS News) Nasty negative attack ads, hundreds of millions of dollars raised, a barrage of trips, photo-ops, shaking hands and a disregard for the truth. The 2012 presidential election is shaping up like most past contests. It seems the people most enthused about this election are the non-partisan fact checkers whose job it is to assign "Pinocchios" or "Pants on Fire" labels to the campaigns and their messages. They are staying very busy.
For the first time in 20 years, both candidates have experience as government executives and a real record of seemingly indisputable facts about their record. Romney backers will be quick to point out that 1992 was the last time an incumbent president lost re-election, a president who, like President Obama, was dealing with a struggling economy. And, like Mitt Romney, the challenger that year was a governor with a record.
Back then, Bill Clinton said former President George H.W. Bush "has given a warped twist to the old adage, 'the best defense is a good offense.' In Bush's lexicon, 'the most aggressive defense is a misleading offense.'" This came as the Bush campaign attacked Clinton for doubling the debt in Arkansas, increasing taxes and overseeing a state that was "the 45th worst in which to work" and was "the 45th worst for children."
Today, it's Romney versus the president. Romney's record as a businessman has already been examined, twisted, stretched, and sugarcoated and now it's his record as governor of Massachusetts that has come under the similar wash, rinse and spin cycle.
Two campaigns, two definitions of Romney's role at Bain
"One of the worst economic records in the country," says a new TV ad this week from Mr. Obama's campaign. "When Mitt Romney was governor, Massachusetts lost 40,000 manufacturing jobs - A rate twice the national average" says the ad. "And fell to forty-seventh in job creation. Fourth from the bottom," adds the announcer.
Compare that to the Romney campaign's new ad: "As Governor of Massachusetts, Mitt Romney had the best jobs record in a decade," says the announcer. "Romney reduced unemployment to just 4.7 percent."
That's the "he said, he said" version of the Romney record on jobs, and what about on the budget?
The Romney ad: "He balanced every budget without raising taxes."
The Obama ad: "He cut taxes for millionaires like himself while raising them on the middle class and left the state two point six billion deeper in debt."
How is it possible for two ads to have such totally opposite interpretations of facts?
Well, what's true in politics is that there is no truth.
"The secret language of statistics, so appealing in a fact-minded culture, is employed to sensationalize, inflate, confuse and oversimplify," wrote Darrell Huff in 1954's "How to Lie with Statistics." Huff suggested that readers and viewers give "statistical material, the facts and figures in newspapers and books, magazines and advertising a very sharp second look before accepting any of them."
And what proves to be true in the end is that the truth is in the eyes of the beholder.
Popular in Politics
- Obama prom pictures surface
- Drones, Gitmo part of broad Obama counterterrorism speech
- IRS' Lerner: "I have not done anything wrong" 686 Comments
- House passes GOP bill to speed Keystone XL pipeline approval
- Christie: Keep politics out of Oklahoma disaster relief
- Amid scrutiny of commerce pick, White House confident about her fate
- Former Miss America might challenge McConnell
- Obama to view Oklahoma tornado damage Sunday
I agree you need to listen and then varify. So here is the Fact Check on Romney. In politics facts and statements are just a buffet line. They pick out just the words that will keep mob fired up. There are other fact checks about Obama if you choose to post them.
All of these political ads; along with all the BS they spout; are just a smokescreen to keep us from figuring out what's really happening in Washington.
It's called "divide and conquer" and both parties have been using it since day one of Obama's Presidency.
Obama, the current Congress and the Senate are the "spot" covering up all their mistakes and inability to accomplish anything.
Keeping people off balance so they cannot see what's really going on is their chief aim.
Between Obama and Boehner, we don't stand the chance of a snowball in hell of solving any of the crises we face in the US today.
Everyday; under Obama; we are losing more and more of our freedoms.
He started the day he was inaugurated.
"America is the greatest country in the world; now help me change it".
If we are already the greatest nation in the world, why do we have to change it.?
Any expectation of even a small amount of privacy is gone.
A healthcare plan most people don't want is still being held over our heads liike a sword.
Enter "Federal Defense Authorization Act" and "Civil Defense Authorization Act" in your search, and see what else you are going to lose.!!
Back in March Obama signed an act authorizing him to declare martial law.
While all past Presidents have signed the same act, they did so early in their Presidencies.
Why did Obama wait for more than three years to sign his.?
What "plots" do our President, Congress and the Senate have waiting in the wings to further destroy the United States and take complete control over every aspect of our lives.
I know this sounds like a treasonous statement, but all you need to do is look back on the books he has written and the many statements he has made in the past that disrespect everything the US stands for.
Someone on this site; it was a while ago; suggested that instead of "electing" Presidents and Congressmen and Senators; that we "HIRE" them instead.
This sounds like a plan to me.!!
If we had the ability to fire those who lie through their teeth or those who are truly not working for the good of the country; we'd be a hell of a lot better off.
When you get right down to it, we are allowing 535 people ruin our lives and our country, and we are paying them to do it.
Stop paying for our own destruction now.!!!