In this article we examine two examples of what we call “fact-free” advertising, which we see in abundance. These ads seek to associate the candidate with a string of positive words and images but are void of specifics.
Stories by FactCheck.org
Mitt and Rudy’s Cherry Orchard
During the Oct. 9 Republican debate, moderator Chris Matthews unleashed a mini-brawl between former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani over their respective fiscal records. Both men spewed statistics that sometimes seemed to contradict each other. We find that each man was cherry-picking his numbers, sometimes in misleading ways.
Dems Face YouTube Interrogators
The Democratic presidential hopefuls faced CNN host Anderson Cooper and a handful of citizens who submitted questions in video format. We found a few misstatements.
Firefighters vs. Giuliani
The New York City firefighters union is running a misleading video blaming former Mayor Rudy Giuliani for the deaths of more than 100 firefighters on September 11, 2001.
Democratic Debate Part 3
We caught a few candidates off base at the third debate among Democratic contenders for the 2008 presidential nomination.
Gingrich Distorts Immigration Bill
Newt Gingrich made false claims about the Senate immigration bill in a TV ad for a conservative group.
Dems Debating, the Sequel
Amid barbs on Iraq, there were exaggerations on energy, insurance and other issues in the second debate of candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination.
FactCheck.org Wins 2 Webby “People’s Voice” Awards
Summary
The Webby Awards named FactCheck.org the best political Web site, and also the best on government, in the 2007 People’s Voice vote.
Analysis
The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences announced May 1 that voters in the annual Webby "People’s Voice" competition chose FactCheck.org as winner in both the politics and government categories. Webbies are billed as "the Oscars of the Internet."
There were five nominees in each category, and sponsors said this year’s competition attracted a record number of votes from the public.
Warring Ads in Wisconsin Supreme Court Race
The April 3 face-off between county Judge Annette Ziegler and attorney Linda Clifford for a seat on the state’s highest court has spawned a springtime blizzard of negative ads in the milk-fed Midwest.
Facts Of The Union
We found some puffery in President Bush’s State of the Union address.