McCain and Palin have accused Obama of requesting nearly $1 billion in earmarks for his state. In reality, this year, Obama has requested $0.
Obama hasn't asked for any earmarks this year. Last year, he asked for $311 million worth, about $25 for every Illinois resident. Alaska asked this year for earmarks totaling $198 million, about $295 for every Alaska citizen.
How is that distorting McCain's Remarks? Sound more like McCain and Palin are just outright liars. How stupid does McCain and Palin think the American people are?
Distorting McCain's Remarks
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McCain:
We've had a pretty good prosperous time with low unemployment.
January 30, 2008
Robertson:
The way the economy is, it is the bleakest of times.
Graphic: Kelly Robertson, Elkhart, Indiana
Fisher:
I'm worried, I'm really worried.
Graphic:Christina Fisher, Wilmington, OH
Announcer: How can John McCain fix the economy, when he doesn't think it's broken?
Obama: I'm Barack Obama, and I approve this message.
Cherry-Picking Quotes
The ad opens with video of McCain saying, "I don't believe we're headed into a recession." But the clip comes from a response to a question at a Republican primary debate in South Carolina back in January. The date is shown in the ad, in the lower-right hand corner. McCain's quote is followed by a clip of a man from Ohio saying, "I think we're absolutely in a recession." While that man and others shown in the ad are talking about economic conditions now, this quote from McCain and another in the ad are from seven months ago, a fact that may not be apparent to viewers if they miss the fine print.
Here's more of what McCain said in January:
McCain, Jan. 10: ... And by the way, I don't believe we're headed into a recession. I believe the fundamentals of this economy are strong, and I believe they will remain strong. This is a rough patch, but I think America's greatness lies ahead of us.
While McCain clearly said the country wasn't headed into a recession, he also acknowledged that the U.S. was in "a rough patch." At the time, unemployment was 5.0 percent, and it has since climbed to 5.7 percent, as of July. McCain's comments on the economy, in fact, have been more critical of late. In an August 1 speech before the National Urban League, McCain said the economy is "struggling" and "troubled."
The second and third quotes the Obama campaign uses from McCain are more misleading. The ad shows McCain saying: "[T]here's been great progress economically." The quote comes from an interview McCain did with Peter Cook at Bloomberg Television in April. But the Obama campaign's selective use of McCain's words leaves out what the Republican had to say about families' economic hardships:
Cook, April 17: I'm going to ask you a version of the Ronald Reagan question. You think if Americans were asked, are you better off today than you were before George Bush took office more than seven years ago, what answer would they give?
McCain: Certainly, in this time, we are in very challenging times. We all recognize that. Families are sitting around the kitchen table this evening and figuring out whether they're going to be able to keep their home or not. They're figuring out whether they're - why it is that suddenly and recently someone in their family or their neighbor has lost their job. There's no doubt that we are in enormous difficulties.
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