Keller @ Large: Big Gap Between Perception And Truth

BOSTON (CBS) - What is political irony?

For our purposes here, it's the glaring gap between what people perceive about a candidate and the truth of what they are.

On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton struggles with the inherent irony of a veteran politician with deep roots in the establishment embracing the outgoing incumbent's policies in a death-grip, all while trying to portray herself as a change agent.

No wonder she is viewed with deep skepticism.

But there's rich irony in the sight of skeptical voters rejecting her in favor of Bernie Sanders because they overwhelmingly view him as more honest and trustworthy.

According to the Pulitzer Prize-winning website Politifact, 52% of the Sanders campaign claims they've fact-checked are categorized as half-true or worse. For Clinton, it's 48%.

But that's nothing compared with the honesty, or lack of it, of Republican frontrunner Donald Trump; an appalling 92% of his statements were either riddled or completely saturated with falsehood, with 19% in the dreaded Pants on Fire category, a rating which earned his campaign the website's "Lie of the Year" award for 2015.

Ladies and gentlemen, give it up for your "tell it like it is" candidate.

We could go on.

Marco Rubio, an arch-conservative by any measure, is labeled a "moderate" by both his friends and enemies. Ted Cruz, the "values" candidate, heads a campaign with some sketchy values.

And I expect to get a flurry of nasty e-mail from devotees of all of these candidates after this.

Because, ironically enough, they all want to bring people together.

Listen to Jon's commentary: