WASHINGTON, Sept. 12, 2008
The Truth And Lies In The Ad Wars
CBS Evening News Fact Checks Obama's And McCain's Recent Ads
-
Play CBS Video
Video
Eye On Attack Ads
As the campaign season enters its final stretch, negative attack ads and smear campaigns are dominating headlines. But not everything that makes it to air is true, as Wyatt Andrews reports.
-
Video
Obama Responds To Attack Ads
As the campaign season enters its final stretch, some Democrats are questioning Barack Obama's response to the attack ads and smear campaigns being lobbed at him. Dean Reynolds reports.
-
Video
All Eyes On Sarah Palin
Katie Couric talks with Chief Washington Correspondent Bob Schieffer about Sarah Palin's first major media interview.
-
Photo
Are the claims the campaigns of Barack Obama (left) and John McCain are making about their opponent actually true? (AP/Michael Conroy, Morry Gash)
-
Blog
Campaign Ads
From uplifting messages to nasty attacks, see the political TV spots meant to sway voters.
-
CBS Evening News
Where They Stand
The CBS Evening News provides an in-depth look at the issues facing the 44th president.
John McCain, appearing on ABC's "The View," was defending Sarah Palin as an anti-earmark crusader, but in the process made two glaring mistakes.
"Well, first of all, earmark spending, which she vetoed a half a billion dollars worth in state of Alaska," McCain said Friday.
The facts are Sarah Palin did veto half a billion dollars, but in state spending - not earmarks. A fact that led to this follow up.
"She also took some earmarks," Barbara Walters said.
"A lot," Joy Behar added.
"No, not as governor she didn't," McCain responded.
Wrong again.
The facts are Sarah Palin as governor has requested $453 million in earmarks.
In general, the facts took a beating in the first campaign week after the conventions. In this week's advertising, McCain went relentlessly negative - in some case resorting to falsehood.
In one ad, McCain implied that Barack Obama called Sarah Palin a pig.
That was false. Obama was talking about McCain's platform.
The latest McCain ad says the Obama camp insulted Sarah Palin's looks - a clear distortion.
The fact is, last week Sen Biden described Palin as good looking - compared to him.
And these ads about pigs and insults are from a candidate who promised to avoid going negative.
"It's very important we focus on issues and challenges we face today," McCain had previously said.
Obama - who also promised a positive campaign - was also loose with the facts in an attack ad, in which Obama claimed McCain repeatedly cut funding for schools.
The facts are: McCain voted three times to increase education spending, and that "taking away" claim is a distortion.
"What he wants to do is to freeze discretionary spending in the government," said Viveca Novak of Factcheck.org. "But it's not a cut from previous years."
According to the nonpartisan Factcheck.org it was a very bad week for the issues.
"The ads we are seeing this week in particular have been, in tone, as low as we ever seen," Novak said.
McCain has been the aggressor in this slide to negativity and it's putting pressure on Obama to respond. Either way, this is not the elevated discussion both candidates promised to deliver.
© MMVIII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Video and Galleries from CBS Evening News: Reality Check
-
Video
Reality Check: Tax Breaks
-
Video
Reality Check: Promises
-
Video
Campaign '08: True Or False?
- Latest in CBS Evening News: Reality Check
- Senators Dive Into Health Overhaul Details
- Senators Tackle $1T Health Care Challenge
- How Will We Pay For The Health Care Plan?
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
...
- 14
- next
See all 693 CommentsThen at random times during the OTHER 1,437 minutes of the day, the American public sees those McCain/Palin ads that contain those same lies spewing at them from those same networks.
That leaves the public puzzling over a valid question:
"Well, if they were untrue, the networks and their affiliate stations wouldn''t run them, right?"
And, since the Republicans are very good at talking about "the liberal media" and "the MSM bias against conservatives and religion" etc., etc., the public is left with the hypothesis:
"The news broadcasts that say that the McCain ads are lies even as the networks and their affiliates run those same ads 24 hours a day must just be examples of the liberal bias of the MSM, right?".
In short, the Republican machine is playing the MSM like a fiddle.
Dance, Katie, dance!!
Swing your partner round and round, Brian!!
Do-se-do, Charlie!!
Prepare to be drafted for the war in SOUTH Ossetia, the former Georgian province, where PALIN says she is willing to go to war if Russia dares to invade Georgia again. That''s the Caucasus mountains. Bring your long underwear. The South Ossetians are IRANIANs who escaped from IRAN when the MONGOLIAN hordes overran it. They escaped to the Caucausus mountains. Go help them. The DRAFT awaits you. Vote for PALIN and go to war vs the Russians to save 7,000 Georgians from being a minority. Yes, this is over 7,000 people. Think small.
PS. Even if there is no war v Russia, the US still must reinstate the draft to keep up the effort in the middle east.
McCain confirmed that in a TOWN HALL meeting.
Check it out. under 36, vote for the DRAFT. You make the call.
Don''t let AMerica hit BaROCK bottom on elecion day.
Say no to drugs.....and Obama.
Hey, pinhead! Don''t you know that the three "bimbo liberals" on the right are republicans? Only the two on the left are democrats! And one of them, Barbara Walters, has spent a lifetime kissing up to repugs and normally won''t ever cross them on TV. But McCain kept on lying, and she she just couldn''t take it anymore.
My favorite night to post here. Working folk aren''t HERE much on ''school-nights'', so we only get to speak out on the weekends.
Darndest thing tho''... news, politics, banking, stock markets, it stops, on the weekends. All anyone wants to talk about is days old stuff. Rather than discuss THAT, Id like to express an opinion.
I''m closer to sixty then fifty. White, male and I live 7 miles from town. To some I''m a hick. I work hard and play hard. The polls say I favor McCain, but I am crazy about Palin. They are WRONG!
I learned of Obama, like everyone else, from the 2004 speech. I was impressed and still am.
I support Obama and heres why.
He is well educated, from a broken home. He has worked his butt off, to help others. He has run a very determined, sucessful campaign. He has endured the rigors of American politics and still is on focus.
We have become numb thus dumb to politics. We have been lead like sheep for so long we believe our votes don''t count, so THEN they don''t.
(continued below or above?)
Our VERY BEST leaders are staying home. Our children don''t vote because WE don''t vote. We don''t ''love our neigbor'', because we don''t know our neighbor. We''d all like to help the less fortunate-except suddenly, WE ARE the less fortunate.
America needs to change, or perish.
Change is scary, but, not changing will be our demise.
One candidate has great hope, one candidate lies.
I''m tired of being lied to.
I have hope.
Yes, I''m bitter and I cling to my guns and religion, when did expressing THAT become wrong?
I can vote for change or I can vote to be deceived, again.
I choose change.
I choose Obama
I don''t think so.
'' .. i had a heart to heart with my daughter, i merely told her flat out, there may be plenty of proverbial wives and children in the world, treated not like assets, but like unlimited liabilitys, treated worse than proverbial employees, but that she didn''t have to play the part of the proverbial husband and father and boss, that i was upset by all the ill treatment and that i could tolerate only twenty minutes of it each night, and that the rest of my night is my night to live anyway i please, to live free, she promised to try not to make and remake all the same mistakes i made when i was growing out, she''ll be three soon, i hope i''ll live that long .. ''
I''ve stopped giving to organizations, including the Democratic Senatorial Committee than run such negative ads. We have seen the impact of this kind of negativity on governing. Politics is about relationships--even relationships across the aisle! And this kind of negativity means elected leaders can not work together to find consensus to address our most pressing national issues.
Posted by crmcmrc
You are the punch line here buddy. One of the true believers in The Bunker as the Soviet infantrymen approached.
Posted by SHURCH4TRUTH
I''m certain you have alot of first hand experience with real courage. You''ve been brave somewhere. Where?
I''ve stopped giving to organizations that run negative ads and have let them know why. We need to stand up against it. It works in the short term, but in the long term we have suffered from the impact of this kind of negativity on governing. This kind of negativity has meant that, over recent years, elected leaders can''t work together to find the consensus needed to address our most pressing national issues.
No one does. No one who knows what the church is actually about believes your misguided opinion that it is a racist church.
Posted by JuanSaga1
And along comes Juan, wearing his clown shoes!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted by brianbwb at 10:54 PM
Exactly right. There are no anti-white quotes they can point. The man addresses the injustices committed and he calls them for what they are. And if people truly believe that God is concerned with what nations, including the US does, then they should also be aware that God doesn''t excuse injustice, no matter how patriotic people think they are. That is what that reverend is about and he told Obama that if he became president that he would also turn his attention to him where injustice occurs.
Yet, Palin''s pastor tells people if they don''t vote for someone they will go to hell. And these people don''t think twice about it, because they agree.
Does anyone have the ability to remember more than a couple of years? Let''s focus on the past so we can keep these criminals out of our future. Please think.
Do you even know what bill H.R. 3058 is? The bill is an omnibus for the "Departments of Transportation, Treasury, and Housing and Urban Development, the Judiciary, District of Columbia, and independent agencies." The Alaska funding was a single earmark among hundreds of sections of that bill, no doubt many of which were worthy. The fact that Obama voted for the *bill* doesn''t mean he was specifically in favor of the bridge. To get back to the issue, though, a person can be in favor of or opposed to earmarks. Palin''s problem is that she LIES about her "reformist" attitude, wishing to greedily accept earmarks produced by the "hardworking congressmen and women" of Alaska, but wanting to pretend she said "no thanks" when pitching to the rest of the USA.
a little angel.
*** Of course, how much is McCain going to "shake things up" in Washington, when his Republican handlers override his decisions on a whim? ***
The Republicans would rather jeopardize the safety of our nation, rather than allow McCain "the maverick Republican puppet" to choose a pro-choice candidate.
Posted by tommy_gil at 10:02 PM : Sep 12, 2008
Only because he is a liar.
Palin and McCain lied at their nomination speechs about the selling the plane on ebay.
They also misdirected on the bridge to nowhere, she was for it before she was against it but she kept the money and built a road and approach for the bridge that isn''''t in existence.
That''''s why he was treated the way he was."
Posted by rharrin1
Clearly "The View" is not pretty for lying Republicans stooges claiming to be mavericks.
Posted by stick1771
Your assertion is a lie.
Has it occurred to you, the whole world could be pro-choice, and never abort a single embryo?
Bill Clinton is history. Last I checked, Obama mas always been married to his sweetheart, and they have two lovely children.
Contrast that to McCain''s cheating ways and divorce.
Or, to Palin''s pregnant unwed daughter, or perhaps to allegedly junky brother Track who is claimed to have been abusing Oxycontin and other illegal drugs for years.
I think Obama is much more in line with my morals, thank you very much.
Posted by jwilwade
I noticed YOU seem to be enjoying it...
'' .. all the kids used to gather and sing songs about their surgerys, then the nurse counter sued for kids what gather and sing songs about their surgerys know too much about what the nurses are doing wrong, and so sue, driving up the cost of malpractice insurance and driving down the number of patients what require a professional opinion (on the plus side though, there''s very professional competition due to the unattractive levels of high turnover, still the ''authoritys'' were way way too skilled) .. ''
Someone tell the EXXON dude to go die.
Posted by azure11
------
Yea, I know it''s off topic. I gave my doctor strict instructions. If he prescribes anything to me that I see advertised on TV, he might as well tear it up, if he doesn''t, I will.
This CBS web site headline and following story finally told the truth about Sarah Palin''s soliciting of nearly $500 MILLION in Federal earmarks in 2 years. And McCain says she is against earmarks. I am so sick of the McCain-Palin lies. They will keep coming out over the next 50 days, like worms out of a dog.
This CBS web site headline and following story finally told the truth about Sarah Palin''s soliciting of nearly $500 MILLION in Federal earmarks in 2 years. And McCain says she is against earmarks. I am so sick of the McCain-Palin lies. They will keep coming out over the next 50 days, like worms out of a dog.
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
...
- 14
- next
See all 693 Comments