Fact-checking Twitter

Both parties know how to pack lots of spin into 140 characters. FactCheck.org exposes some impressive distortions from recent tweets. Here’s one example:

DNC Mis-tweet: ‘GOP’s Wall St. Fundraiser’

DNC, April 22: While the President spoke today about Wall St reform, GOP senators took checks from Wall St lobbyists: http://j.mp/dn47vT

The Democratic National Committee contrasts the president’s speech about the financial regulation bill with a fundraising event held by a Republican senator, Florida Sen. George LeMieux, on the same day. The DNC Twitter feed links to a blog post on Talking Points Memo, a liberal website, about the event. But the coincidental fundraiser is simply not a Wall Street event, and the DNC is misrepresenting it.
The tweet says “GOP senators took checks from Wall St lobbyists.” How many “senators” took checks? One.

…

[DNC spokeswoman Brandi] Hoffine repeats the unproven exaggerations by saying GOP senators at LeMieux’s fundraiser “collected the contributions of banking lobbyists representing the very companies Republicans have been shielding from reform.” She also says, “Republicans have taken far more in contributions from Wall Street this year,” citing newspaper accounts.

The operative word, though, is “this year.” The fact is that the Democrats have raised far more money from securities and investment firms than Republicans in the 2009-2010 election cycle. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, securities and investment firms have contributed $34.7 million to federal candidates in this campaign cycle. Of that, Democrats have received $21.7 million, or 63 percent, and Republicans have received about $13 million, or 37 percent.

Apologies to my liberal friends for only citing an example of Democratic dishonesty. It’s just that some people can’t imagine such a thing. (Of course, FactCheck also exposes GOP distortions.)