In McCain's ad "Troops", several negative claims are made against Obama, specifically with regard to his perceived lack of judgment or experience in foreign policy. First, it is claimed that Obama has "never held a single Senate hearing on Afghanistan", and "hadn't been to Iraq in years" ("Troops." Advertisement.
John McCain. July-Aug. 2008.).
While technically both points are true, contextually, neither have much merit. Specifically, it was the full Senate Foreign Relations Committee, not the subcommittee to which Obama was a member that held hearings on Afghanistan (Jackson, Brooks. "The Truth on Troop Support." 22 July 2008. FactCheck. 27 Oct. 2008)
. It is interesting to note that Obama, although not a member of a committee holding hearings regarding Afghanistan, did in fact attend one of them, while McCain, a member of the Armed Services Committee, which did hold hearings, did not attend. While also technically true that Obama hadn't been to Iraq in "years" (2006 was his last visit prior to the airing of "Troops"), he was actually in Iraq when the ad hit the airwaves. In this case, the claims made by McCain's ad are not just misleading; they're dead wrong.
Additionally, in "Troops", it is claimed that Obama voted against funding American troops ("Troops." Advertisement.
John McCain. July-Aug. 2008.). The inference is made that Obama has voted to reduce funding for needed supplies consistently and on multiple occasions. This is false. Although Obama did vote against a funding bill,
once, he did so because the bill did not contain language specifying a timetable for troop withdrawl. On at least ten other occasions, Obama voted
for more troop funding (Jackson, Brooks. "The Truth on Troop Support." 22 July 2008. FactCheck. 27 Oct. 2008).
A second ad, "Housing Problem", attempts to tie Obama to developer and convicted felon Tony Rezko. The ad claims that Rezko helped Obama buy his home, and that he received "politcal favors", including $14 million from Chicago taxpayers ("Housing Problem." Advertisement.
John McCain. 21 Aug. 2008). Again, the facts in this ad are misleading and colluded.
It is true that Rezko purchased a plot of land next to the home Obama bought, but the land wasn't purchased
for Obama-- Rezko's wife purchased the commercial plot, and later sold, at a profit, a portion of the land to Obama (Miller, Joe, and D'Angelo Gore. "Rezko Reality."
Rezko Reality. 22 Aug. 2008. FactCheck. 27 Oct. 2008
). As far as the $14 million dollar favor the ad alludes to; Obama wrote a one page letter to the city housing commissioner supporting the development of an apartment project for low-income senior citizens. The project was funded with taxpayer money, and Rezko headed the development. To be clear, Rezko did not receive $14 million dollars, as is implied in the ad-- his net profit was closer to $855,000 dollars after expenses related to construction and development. Most damning to the claims made in "Housing Problem", however, is the fact that Rezko never asked Obama for his letter of support-- Obama sent the letter without any conversation or agreement taking place between the two men (Miller, Joe, and D'Angelo Gore. "Rezko Reality." Rezko Reality. 22 Aug. 2008. FactCheck. 27 Oct. 2008 ).
Some of the claims made in these ads are so blatantly false or contextually shallow that they resemble "truth" only in passing. It is obvious that these ads are meant to throw up a veil of doubt about Barack Obama, rather than clear the air. With the days between now and Nov 4 dwindling, only the most crippling political blows can be dealt. The average voter can no more trust the advertising of a politician than they can the advertising of a late night infomercial, and the closer to election day we get, the wilder the claims become.
1 comment:
"Troops" - The claim that McCain made about Obama voting against funding troops is false. He has voted for funding for our troops many times and has said he want to bring the troops home. It is true that he never called for a commitee to help the troops in Afghanistan, but he did attend one. Also, it is true that Obama canceled a visit to wounded troops but it wasn't under the circumstances that McCain claimed it was. McCain said that Obama cancelled becuase he couldn't bring in cameras and press, and he went to the gym instead. This is not true. Obama had already visite them at a earlier time without the cameras and press. He goes to the gym to work-out daily. (factcheck.org)
"Housing Problem"- One claim made is Rezko is one of Obama's biggest supporters. According to newsweek.com this is true. It says "...Rezko and his assosiates contributed generously to his campaigns." Despite the fact that he has helped Obama with his campaign this doesn't mean that Obama had anything to do with Rezko recieving political favors to buy a house. There is no evidence linking this to Obama. (factcheck.com)
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