Q: Did Obama snub U.S. troops in Afghanistan to shoot baskets for publicity pictures?
A: This is another viral e-mail falsehood. The author now says it’s not true; the Army says it’s not true; and video and photos show Obama shaking hands with troops and eating breakfast with them as well.
McCain’s Viagra Moment
Summary
Planned Parenthood is running a TV ad showing John McCain painfully groping for an answer to a reporter’s question: "It’s unfair that health insurance companies cover Viagra but not birth control. Do you have an opinion on that?"
McCain had good reason to be flustered. The premise of the reporter’s question is a myth. We couldn’t find any data that show a disparity between health insurance companies that cover Viagra and those that cover birth control.
Do VP Candidates Win States?
Q: Historically, have vice presidential candidates really helped win states in the general election?
A: Presidential nominees don't pick their running mates based on this strategy as often as one might think. Even when they do, the results are decidedly mixed.
The Truth on Troop Support?
Summary
The McCain campaign is running a TV ad attacking Obama with statements that are literally true but paint an incomplete picture.
It says he "voted against funding our troops." He did – exactly once. Obama cast at least 10 votes for war-funding bills before voting against one last year, after Bush vetoed a version that contained a date for withdrawal from Iraq.
It says he "hasn’t been to Iraq for years." He was headed there at the time the ad was released,
A Full Tank of Nonsense
Summary
McCain’s new ad accuses Obama of keeping gas prices high, all by himself. That’s absurd, and McCain knows it – he has said repeatedly that our current problems were "30 years in the making."
The ad also tells us that gas prices are high because "some in Washington are still saying no to drilling in America." Not true. The federal government’s estimate is that if the moratorium on offshore drilling were lifted today, it would be 2030 before we’d see a noticeable effect on supply and prices.
Presidential Debate Dates
Q: When is the first real debate between John McCain and Barack Obama? I’m really looking forward to it.
A: Not until Sept. 26, as things stand. But McCain wants more debates starting sooner and Obama has said he’s open to the idea. So far the two haven’t agreed on any dates, though.
Questionable Quotes
Summary
Vets for Freedom, a group made up of veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, launched a new ad this week that falsely attributes a quote to the Washington Post. The ad gives the impression that the Post was a critic of the surge in Iraq and is now admitting it was wrong. But the words the group uses are the views of the head of the CIA,
Unused Offshore Potential?
Q: Are the Democrats correct in stating that oil companies are leasing 68 million acres in the U.S. that are not being used?
A: Not exactly. More than 4,700 new holes are being drilled on current onshore leases.
Straining a Point
Summary
Obama released a national ad saying he would "fast-track alternatives" to imported oil. On closer examination, his proposal is to spend $150 billion over the coming decade on energy research. Ten years doesn't sound all that "fast" to us, and there's no guarantee that the research will result in less oil being imported.
Analysis
Sen. Barack Obama's campaign released the ad and said it would run on national cable TV networks starting July 17.
Average Campaign Contributions
Q: What is the average size of Obama’s contributions and what is the average size of McCain’s contributions?
A: We can’t calculate a precise average for either candidate, but we can say that persons giving less than $200 account for 47 percent of Obama’s donations and 26 percent of McCain’s.