Summary
In an earlier article we criticized Rudy Giuliani for saying adoptions went up 65 to 70 percent when he was mayor, when in fact adoptions at the end of his tenure were only 17 percent higher than at the start, and falling. His campaign still insists his claim is justified and offers its own interpretation of the statistical record.
In this article we offer the former mayor’s rationale, along with why we believe it is a classic case of how candidates and public officials sometimes use data selectively to create a false impression.
Stories by Brooks Jackson
Director Emeritus, FactCheck.org
Republican Candidates Debate
Summary
Ten Republican candidates for president debated at the Reagan Library in California, the first GOP debate of the 2008 campaign. Here and there we found stumbles, spin and exaggerations, just as we did at the Democratic debate a week earlier.
Giuliani claimed that adoptions shot up 65 to 70 percent while he was mayor. In fact, the net increase over his entire tenure was 17 percent.
Brownback hyped the medical potential of stem cells taken from adults and not embryos,
Democratic Candidates Debate
Summary
Eight Democratic candidates debated in South Carolina. We found some minor stumbles.
Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, explaining his call to show compassion for Palestinians, put a spin on the remark that differs from the way it was originally reported by an Iowa newspaper.
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York said the Virginia Tech killer had been ruled a threat "to others" and involuntarily committed because of his mental state. Neither is true.
Medicare Hot Air
Democrats oversell their Medicare prescription drug bill, falsely claiming it will bring big price cuts for medication. Republicans have been equally misleading.
Accusations Fly in Senate Squeakers
Voters in Tennessee, Missouri and Virginia – three states where polls have shown the Senate candidates to be neck-and-neck – have been particularly swamped with ads.
The Whoppers Of 2006
The mid-term elections of 2006 brought an unprecedented barrage of advertising containing much that is false or misleading.
Tired Old Trust Fund Bunk
In half a dozen ads, Democrats accuse a number of GOP House incumbents of voting repeatedly to “raid the Social Security Trust Fund.” That line was bunk when Republicans used it against Democratic candidates in the past, and it’s bunk now.
$122 Million Worth Of Hype
Former President Bill Clinton says California’s Proposition 87 will help “save the planet” and Al Gore says it’s the one thing the state can do to “free us from foreign oil.” Both sides are overselling.
A Misleading Appeal To Fear
The pro-Bush group Progress for America is running a TV ad appealing directly to Americans’ fear of terrorists, saying bluntly “These people want to kill us.”
An Election-Year Virus
Debunked again and again, a false e-mail keeps circulating claiming members of Congress don’t pay Social Security taxes.