The fine folks at FactCheck.org have put together an excellent series on the standard stump speeches from each 2012 candidate. Some highlights:
Obama’s Stump Speech
- He tells us that number of manufacturing jobs have gone up by more than half a million from the lowest point. He doesn’t mention that the number is still less than half the total lost in his first term.
- He says that Romney will raise taxes by $2,000 on middle-income taxpayers. Romney has responded clearly that he has no plans do that.
- He also attacks Romney and the Republicans for running a negative complain when independent reviews show that 69% of the president’s own ads are also negative.
Romney’s Stump Speech
- Romney references an uncontrolled, online, opt-in survey to defend his position that small business owners will refrain from hiring because of the Affordable Care Act.
- Romney continues to play heavily on Obama’s out-of-context “you didn’t build that” quote despite repeated, public attempts to correct him.
- Romney exaggerates several claims regarding annual income, health care costs and gasoline prices.
What become clear is that neither candidate is sticking solely to the facts. Instead, as we’ve come expect, a good soundbite continues to trump the truth every time and from all the players.
Even discounting the audience chanting the phrase “we built it” has become the mantra of the Republican Convention in Tampa, Florida. The phrase is adapted from a quote made by president Obama in July.
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