As Campaign Heats Up, Untruths Can Become Facts Before They're Undone

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/09/AR2008090903727.html?sid=ST2008091000081&s_pos=

This article from The Washington Post is basically about how rumors in regards to the upcoming election are believed to be true before facts are verified. For example, Obama's tax plan outlines that families which earn less than $250,000 will be exempt from the tax plan. McCain, however, is continually stating that the plan will raise everyone's taxes. Because of this, 51% of voters thought that Obama would raise their taxes, which isn't true, as taxes will actually be cut for most families. Likewise, 41% of senior citizens believe that their income taxes will go up. The income taxes for senior citizens who make less than $50,000 a year will go down.

Similarly, Obama has said for months that McCain wanted to keep troops in Iraq for 100 years. What McCain actually said was that the troops would only be there if the country was at peace.

The article also discusses Palin's "Bridge to Nowhere" which she once supported, but has since jumped ship after she lost support. There had been $223 million sent to Alaska for the bridge, but more than 50% of it has been spent on other projects.

The reason I chose this article was because of a quote by Charlie Cook, editor of the Cook Politcal Report: "We have created a system where there is not a lot of shame in stretching the truth." This ties into the reading which was assigned for yesterday's class (Tues, Sept. 9) about truthfulness in journalism. Although there have been a lot of articles written that simply re-state what people have said without checking the speakers facts or the reliability of their sources, this article was calling out false claims, such as Obama falsely saying that McCain wanted to keep troops in Iraq for 100 years.