http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/ en-us Copyright 2008 Tue, 08 Jan 2008 10:53:16 -0500 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=3.2 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss The poet and the pol "You campaign in poetry, but you govern in prose." --Hillary Clinton, Nashua, N.H., Jan. 6. I will get back to fact checking tomorrow, but first let me share my impressions from four exciting days in New Hampshire. When I heard Hillary Clinton quote Mario Cuomo in a packed sports hall in Nashua on Sunday, I knew instantly that she had captured the essence of the 2008 presidential campaign. The most important distinction in this race, at least at this stage, is not between the Democratic Party and the Republican Party. It is between the Poetry Party and the Prose Party. http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/01/poetry_versus_prose.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/01/poetry_versus_prose.html Candidate Watch Tue, 08 Jan 2008 10:53:16 -0500 We assembled a team of crack fact checkers to truth squad the Republican and Democratic debates at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, and call the candidates out for any inaccuracies. Environmental reporter Juliet Eilperin was sitting next to me in the media filing center. She is also an expert on Congress, having covered it all her life. We were joined in Washington by John Solomon, a veteran political reporter for the Associated Press and now the Post, and diplomatic reporter Glenn Kessler. Prior to the foreign policy beat, Glenn covered economics. I was a foreign correspondent for the Post for more than a decade, and also covered education, so I hope we will be able to weigh in quickly on most factual disputes. Backing us up In Washington were ace researcher Alice Crites and editor Steve Ginsberg. Since this was a live fact check, we are not going to issue http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/01/live_debate_fact_check.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/01/live_debate_fact_check.html Live Fact Check Sat, 05 Jan 2008 22:44:14 -0500 Rudy Giuliani with Margaret Thatcher, September 19, 2007. One of the five "most famous" Americans? In the spirit of the holiday season, I am inviting nominations for the "Top Ten Fibs of 2007". There are two categories in the competition: "Presidential Candidates" and "Best of the Rest." Post your nominations in the comments section or use the "Contact the Fact Checker" form. Also feel free to cast a non-binding vote for your favorite fib. The deadline is Friday, Dec. 28. A panel of crack Fact Checkers will select the Top Five Fibs in each category and post them online on Monday, December 31. We will also make a Geppetto truth-telling award in the "Presidential Candidates" category. http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2007/12/the_fibs_of_2007.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2007/12/the_fibs_of_2007.html Candidate Watch Mon, 24 Dec 2007 06:00:00 -0500 Bill Richardson wants a complete pullout from Iraq. "Senator Clinton, Obama and Edwards are saying we need to keep troops until 2013, as many as 75,000. I say get 'em all out as soon as possible." --Bill Richardson, on the Stephanie Miller radio show, November 7, 2007. "George Bush's "surge" has failed: this summer was the bloodiest yet, and there's no end in sight." --Statement on Richardson campaign Web site. Together with Dennis Kucinich and Mike Gravel, Bill Richardson has taken the most radical position of all the Democratic candidates in demanding a complete pullout from Iraq. But he has also distorted the positions of his rivals, and grossly over-simplified the challenge of withdrawing 140,000 troops from the country. This is the third in a series of posts on the positions of candidates in the Iraq war, beginning with the Democrats. For Clinton see here, and Edwards here. http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2007/11/richardson_misstates_the_facts_1.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2007/11/richardson_misstates_the_facts_1.html Candidate Watch Tue, 13 Nov 2007 07:00:00 -0500 Bill Richardson on the campaign trail. "I like to compete with other governors about which is the clean energy state. We are the only state that follows the Kyoto treaty." --Bill Richardson, on the Stephanie Miller radio show, November 7, 2007. The governor of New Mexico has a good record on environmental issues. But is he correct in claiming that his state is cutting greenhouse gas emissions in line with the 1997 Kyoto protocol that the Bush administration has refused to ratify. And is New Mexico "the only state" that is "following" the Kyoto treaty? That seems quite a stretch. http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2007/11/richardson_i_am_the_greenest_o.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2007/11/richardson_i_am_the_greenest_o.html Candidate Watch Fri, 09 Nov 2007 06:00:00 -0500 Dream presidential ticket for UFO believers. "The federal government has not come clean on all that it knows...They don't produce documents on this, they should get it all out...The government has not handled this well over the years, that is a historical fact." --Bill Richardson, interviewed by Chris Matthews on MSNBC, claiming that the US government is witholding information on UFOs, October 30, 2007. "More people in this country have seen UFOs than, I think, approve of George Bush's presidency." --Dennis Kucinich, Democratic presidential debate, October 30, 2007. Last week's media excitement over the claim by Democratic presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich to have personally seen a UFO obscured a much more newsworthy story. Bill Richardson alleges UFO coverup! Archives officials wonder if New Mexico governor is living on a different planet!! Top UFO researcher endorses Clinton-Richardson presidential ticket, predicts Democrats will end "UFO truth embargo"!!! The Fact Checker investigates! http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2007/11/aliens_support_clinton_richard.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2007/11/aliens_support_clinton_richard.html Candidate Watch Tue, 06 Nov 2007 06:00:00 -0500 Before everybody relaxes for the weekend, some facts to ponder over Halloween: Barbers for Dodd "Presidential Candidate Chris Dodd today announced that his campaign will begin running a new ad entitled "Jim's," highlighting his ability to achieve results as President....The 60-second spot will run in Iowa and on national cable networks and introduces John and Jesse, two barbers at Jim's barbershop in Winterset, Iowa, where the ad was shot." --Dodd campaign press release, October 24, 2007. There's one minor problem with the Dodd ad, and we are indebted to the Des Moines Register for pointing it out. "John" and "Jesse" are not barbers. They are not Democratic voters. In fact, they are not even from Iowa. They are actors from Chicago. There is a "Jim's barbershop" in Winterset, but it is run by a registered Republican, Jim Kinser, who let the Dodd people have the run of his store, but http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2007/10/barbers_for_dodd_gorbie_endors_1.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2007/10/barbers_for_dodd_gorbie_endors_1.html Candidate Watch Fri, 26 Oct 2007 06:00:00 -0500