The Whoppers of 2008—The Sequel

Obama: Celling McCain Short
Any ad that features the mom of a sick child is sure to pull a few heartstrings. But this radio spot is flat wrong when it says that "John McCain has stood in the way – he's opposed stem cell research." Technically, the carefully-worded phrase is correct: McCain has opposed embryonic stem cell research. But not since 2001, when he became convinced, he says, that the potential good it could do outweighed other considerations.

And although his vice presidential candidate feels otherwise, and the Republican Party platform doesn't support his views either, McCain still opposes the Bush administration's restrictions on stem-cell research. Our conclusion: The Obama-Biden ad seriously misstates McCain's position.

Obama's Stem Cell Spinning  September 30

Garbage Barrage
An upstart group with an official-sounding name, the National Republican Trust PAC, emerged from the shadows in late September and claims to have raised nearly $7 million for a barrage of ads in the final weekend before Election Day. The "Republican" group actually has no formal connection to the Republican Party, and the first ad it aired is one of the sleaziest attacks we've seen. It flashes on screen the driver's license of 9/11 terrorist Mohammed Atta and claims Obama has a "plan" to give licenses to illegal aliens. Never mind that Obama says he's not proposing drivers' permits for non-legal immigrants, or that the 9/11 terrorists didn't need driver's licenses to board aircraft (their passports would have done just fine) or that Atta had actually been granted a visa and had been allowed to enter the country legally. This group doesn't let facts stand in the way of a smear.

There's more. The spot also alleges that Obama's health plan will cover illegal immigrants. Wrong again. Obama has quite explicitly ruled out coverage for those who are here illegally. Nor does he propose granting Social Security benefits to illegal immigrants, as the ad also claims.

A License to Kill  October 28

Financial Crisis? Blame Someone!
There's nothing like a good disaster to bring on the finger-pointing. With the financial system in a tailspin, MoveOn.org seized the moment to hammer on former Sen. Phil Gramm, a onetime McCain economic adviser, for cosponsoring a 1999 bill repealing some regulations on financial institutions. But the bill had broad bipartisan support, passing the House 362-57, the Senate 90-8; Democratic President Bill Clinton signed it into law. Did it "strip the safeguards that would have protected us," as the ad charges? Actually, economists of various political stripes – as well as Clinton – have credited the law with cushioning some of the blows of the recent troubles.
  
A McCain ad turns the tables by saying the Republican candidate tried in vain to "rein in" Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the institutions whose underwriting of too many risky home mortgages contributed to the meltdown. Obama was "notably silent," the ad says, and "Democrats blocked the reforms." Actually, Republicans never brought the bill up for consideration on the floor; they controlled the Senate at the time. And besides, McCain signed on to the 2005 bill too late for it to have made any difference.

The game caught on in congressional ads, too, where even more ludicrous factual contortions took place in order to parcel out blame. In one ad, a Republican state legislator who's running for a House seat is tied to the crisis and the $700 billion bailout for doing nothing more than going on record supporting Bush's tax cuts; the candidate has never even served in public office at the national level.

$700 Billion Blame Game  October 21

Who Caused the Economic Crisis?  October 1