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A Project of The Annenberg Public Policy Center

Sunday Replay

This weekend, the Sunday talkfests were dominated by predictions of how the makeup of the Senate and House might change after Tuesday’s elections. Halloween or not, clairvoyance isn’t a skill set we’ve mastered. We’re happy to wait for the actual results.
Meanwhile, we highlight a few misleading, non-predictive comments from Sunday:
Palin’s ‘Corrupt Bastards’
On "Fox News Sunday," former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin accused "corrupt bastards" in the media of conspiring with Sen. Lisa Murkowski to sabotage the campaign of her GOP Senate rival,

Down-to-the-Wire Deceptions

Attack ads, and the misinformation that comes with them, continue to swamp the airwaves. In fact, spending on ads in these midterm elections could top $3 billion, said Evan Tracey, whose Kantar Media-owned Campaign Media Analysis Group tracks political ads running nationwide. That cracks the $2.7 billion spent in 2008 – when a presidential race as well as the usual congressional ones were eating up airtime.
A brief rundown of some misleading assaults we’ve found in the last few days:
DSCC Hits Murkowski
Among other things,

NRSC Eliminates the Positive

Making an endorsement seem like a condemnation isn’t an easy deception to pull off — but the National Republican Senatorial Committee has done it.

In an ad attacking Democratic Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet, the NRSC uses a series of highly selective quotes from a Denver Post piece: Bennet is “fighting for Obama … Obama and the Democrats overreached … helping to stick future generations with trillions in debt … lavishing billions on corporate bailouts and takeovers.”

Tortured ‘Terror Ties’ in West Virginia

In a TV ad based on innuendos and half-truths, a GOP challenger accuses his Lebanese American opponent, Democratic Rep. Nick Rahall, of taking campaign cash from “a convicted terrorist” and “a group with terror ties.”

Rahall is a Presbyterian whose grandparents immigrated from Lebanon. The ad by his Republican opponent, Spike Maynard, first aired Oct. 20 in West Virginia’s 3rd Congressional District. It also claims Rahall is "bad for America," attempting to tie Rahall to terrorism using the classic guilt-by-association fallacy.

Sunday Replay

This week, we find guests on the Sunday public affairs shows making false statements about disclosure of political funds, whether a Senate candidate pushed to have terrorists tried in his home state or favored letting states ban private health insurance, and whether middle-income families would pay more if the Bush tax cuts were extended for everybody.
Rove’s Lame Claim
Republican strategist Karl Rove misled viewers of CBS’ "Face the Nation" with a false claim that labor unions aren’t disclosing where they get the millions they are spending in the 2010 elections.

Outside Group Attacks Sestak on Terror Trials

The Republican Jewish Coalition says it is spending $1 million in the Pennsylvania Senate race on an ad attacking Democrat Joe Sestak for wanting to hold trials of alleged 9/11 terrorists "in our backyard" in Pennsylvania. But Sestak is not advocating holding terror trials in Pennsylvania. He said he would accept them if they were to happen, because he supports civilian, rather than military, trials for terrorists.

The ad, which began airing on Oct. 20, involves the controversial decision by the Department of Justice to try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed,

Angle Misleads on ‘Ethics Loopholes,’ ‘Shady’ Land Deal

Sharron Angle attacks Harry Reid in two new ads for being wealthy and for making $1 million on a real-estate deal, which is true enough. But one of the ads falsely claims that the Senate Majority Leader "pushed ethics loopholes," and the other makes the unsubstantiated claim that the land deal was "shady."

Angle, the Republican who’s trying to win Democrat Reid’s seat, is running both ads in Nevada as the candidates enter the final stretch of one of the closest Senate races in the nation.

Who’s Bearing ‘False Witness’ in Arkansas?

In Arkansas’ 2nd Congressional District, Democrat Joyce Elliott accuses her opponent, Tim Griffin, of violating the commandment not to bear false witness — but she goes on to make questionable claims herself:

Elliott says Griffin “conspired to keep students and soldiers from voting” in the 2004 election, an unproven allegation that has resulted in no charges.
Her ad says Griffin “opposes regulating Wall Street.” It’s true he opposes the Democratic financial reform bill, but not all financial regulations.

Sunday Replay

This week, we resolve two disputes about who said what, and find that a government report cited as support for a charge about ineffective government programs is nonexistent.
NBC’s "Meet the Press" hosted a debate between Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet and the Republican who is trying to unseat him, tea party favorite Ken Buck. We’re reviewing their exchange, and, if we find they have their facts wrong, we’ll post a piece on Tuesday.
Did He Say That?

Conway ‘Lying’ About ‘Aqua Buddha’?

Kentucky Republican Rand Paul said his Senate Democratic opponent, Jack Conway, has "descended into the gutter" after making a personal attack on Paul’s college days in a recent ad. Paul even refused to shake Conway’s hand after a debate the two had at the University of Louisville on Oct. 17. During the debate, Paul called his opponent out multiple times saying, "You just out and out lie because you have nothing to stand on. …You demean the state of Kentucky."