Truth not an asset in campaigning

‘ ‘ ‘ Among all the sugary campaign promises we’ve been digesting lately, both presidential… ‘ ‘ ‘ Among all the sugary campaign promises we’ve been digesting lately, both presidential candidates have vowed to counter the 6.1 percent unemployment rate in the U.S. by creating new jobs. Neither candidate will have any problem accomplishing that goal if he continues to keep the media fact-checking outlets working as hard as they have been in recent weeks. ‘ ‘ ‘ With back-and-forth polling reflecting the tight nature of this ’08 campaign, both sides seem a little more inclined to stretch the facts to target any last voter they can. McCain has been airing a misleading TV spot about Obama pushing some form of graphic sex education on 5-year-olds; Obama has responded in kind by butchering his interpretation of McCain’s plans for Social Security and rehashing it to anxious seniors in Florida. ‘ ‘ ‘ But if you’re looking for the real meat here, forget about Obama and McCain. The vice-presidential candidates must think no one is paying attention to them, judging by the fanciful quotes and statistics they’ve been throwing around. ‘ ‘ ‘ On Sept. 15, while rallying in Michigan, Biden made use of some creative editing to explain McCain’s take on the mortgage mess. He said, ‘In the midst of the housing crisis, John McCain said, ‘I will fight for those that lost their … real estate investments … It’s not the role of government to bail out big banks or small borrowers.’ What about the people who don’t invest in homes, but live in them?’ ‘ ‘ ‘ Glad you asked, Sen. Biden. If you would have included McCain’s whole quote, it would go something like this: ‘It is not the duty of government to bail out and reward those who act irresponsibly, whether they are big banks or small borrowers.’ Since that statement in March, McCain has leaned further toward helping out individuals and families who were targeted for risky loans ‘mdash; not big institutions. ‘ ‘ ‘ McCain actually said in September, ‘I will fight for those that lost their jobs, savings and real estate investments. Some Americans have been left behind in the changing economy, and it often seems the government hasn’t even noticed.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ McCain’s Web site elaborates, ‘No taxpayer money should bail out real estate speculators or financial market participants who failed to perform due diligence in assessing credit risks. Any assistance for borrowers should be focused solely on homeowners.’ Does that answer your question, Sen. Biden? ‘ ‘ ‘ Not to be outmatched, however, Gov. Palin has been cranking out one gem after another, despite the fact that the GOP recently muzzled her to prevent her from conducting any unscripted media exchanges. In her ABC News interview with Charles Gibson, she delivered one whopper after another. In response to a question about her national security credentials ‘mdash; oh, just wait ‘mdash; Palin responded, ‘I’ve been working … as the governor of this state that produces nearly 20 percent of the U.S. domestic supply of energy.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ Let’s ignore Palin’s attempt to steer the question to friendlier territory. What she said ‘mdash; that Alaska produces one-fifth of the nation’s domestic energy supplies ‘mdash; is straight-up wrong. If you direct your attention to the most recent numbers available from the federal Energy Information Administration, you’ll notice that Alaska produced 2,417 trillion BTU’s of total energy in 2005, even less than Pennsylvania. Match that up with the 69,381 trillion BTU’s of energy the whole country produced that same year, and the portion of national energy production that Alaska supplies is closer to 3.5 percent. Ouch. ‘ ‘ ‘ That hasn’t stopped both her and McCain from using that inflated statistic over and over again, coming back to it with various TV interviewers. ‘ ‘ ‘ It would be entirely unfair to expect all the players in this race to produce valid and accurate facts for every argument they make; mistakes are bound to pop up along the way in such a long contest. So it might not seem worthwhile to act like the witling in the back of the classroom who calls attention to the speaker’s every tiny misstep, but there is a big difference between an innocent gaffe that appears once or twice, and integrating that misinformation into a recurring argument of your campaign. ‘ ‘ ‘ In the words of one man who might soon be commander in chief, ‘They must think you’re stupid.’ I don’t know who they are, but yeah, they must. You can reach Brandon at bkp3@pitt.edu.