The Whoppers of 2008

Soft on Iran  June 5
Context Included: Obama on Iran  August 27

Obama: McCain wants to stay in Iraq for 100 years.
We first caught the DNC distorting McCain's remarks all the way back in February. But that didn't stop the DNC or the Obama campaign from continuing to say that McCain wanted to keep troops in Iraq for 100 years. In fact, McCain is referring to a peacetime presence in Iraq, as the full context of McCain's remarks makes clear. Here's what McCain actually said, in a Jan. 3 town hall meeting:

McCain, town hall meeting, Jan. 3: Maybe a hundred. ... We've been in Japan for 60 years. We've been in South Korea for 50 years or so. That would be fine with me, as long as Americans, as long as Americans are not being injured or harmed or wounded or killed. It's fine with me and I hope it would be fine with you if we maintain a presence in a very volatile part of the world.

Smear or Be Smeared  February 8
DNC vs. McCain  April 29

He's Against the Troops
We've caught both candidates distorting their opponent's record on support for military personnel and veterans:

In July, McCain released an ad saying that Obama "made time to go to the gym, but canceled a visit with wounded troops" when the Pentagon "wouldn't allow him to bring cameras." Although the individual claims are all true, the implication is false. Obama had previously visited wounded soldiers at Walter Reed and in Baghdad – both without cameras in tow. He did cancel a visit to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany after the Pentagon told him that Retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Jonathan Scott Gration, an Obama foreign policy adviser, would not be permitted to accompany him. Obama said afterward that he had "a concern that maybe our visit was going to be perceived as political."
Snubbing Wounded Troops  July 28

McCain released a July ad accusing Obama of "voting against funding our troops." The ad refers to a single 2007 vote against a war funding bill. Obama voted for a version of the bill that included language calling for withdrawing troops from Iraq. President Bush vetoed it. (McCain supported that veto, but didn't call it "vetoing support for our troops.") What Obama voted against was the same bill without withdrawal language. And he had voted yes on at least 10 other war funding bills prior to that single 2007 no vote.
The Truth on Troop Support  July 22

In his convention acceptance speech, Obama twisted McCain's words about Afghanistan, saying, "When John McCain said we could just 'muddle through' in Afghanistan, I argued for more resources." Actually, McCain said in 2003 we "may" muddle through, and he had recently called for more troops there himself.
FactChecking Obama  August 29

In May, McCain claimed that Obama is the chair of a subcommittee with oversight over the war in Afghanistan but has failed to hold a single hearing on the subject. But while Obama's subcommittee does have jurisdiction over NATO, which is supplying about half of the troops in Afghanistan, his subcommittee does not have jurisdiction over Afghanistan proper.
Does Obama Chair a Senate subcommittee that oversees the war in Afghanistan?  June 20

In September, Democratic vice presidential nominee Joe Biden accused McCain of calling a GI Bill McCain voted against "too generous." Biden's line was similar to an earlier AFL-CIO ad that accused McCain of voting against increasing health care benefits for veterans. McCain actually voted for an increase in health care funding for vets, though the version he supported contained smaller increases than some Democratic-sponsored alternatives. And McCain did refer to Sen. Jim Webb's proposed GI Bill as "more generous" than the version he supported, but "more generous" is not the same as "too generous."
AFL-CIO Falsely Attacks McCain  July 10
Stretching with Biden  September 18