COMMENTARY | What did voters learn in the Republican debate that was held on Thursday? The answer is not what the candidates believe in, or how they will change our country for the better if they are elected president.
The debate revealed that politicians are becoming more comfortable with not just twisting facts, but telling outright lies. I understand the need to present the facts in a way that will benefit a candidate's campaign, and even a little exaggeration is fine, and even expected, from politicians who are trying to show the best of themselves to voters.
But when did it become acceptable for a candidate to outright deny a statement that they clearly made and can be heard on tape? Isn't this fraud? Why isn't anyone doing anything about it? Perhaps if politicians were held accountable for their actions, and punished for lying to voters, they would think twice before speaking.
I'm not talking about unfulfilled campaign promises, lies that cannot be substantiated, or legitimate mistakes. I'm talking about the whoppers. Here are a few of the tall tales that the current Republican candidates have been spinning.
Rick Perry
Perry has been challenged many times during his campaign about the executive order that he made as governor of Texas in 2007 requiring sixth grade girls to receive the HPV vaccine. He has said his reason for doing this was because he was lobbied by a 31-year-old woman who was dying of cervical cancer.
He talked about his personal relationship with the woman, Heather Burcham, and he dramatically stated he sat by her side in the final days before she died. He has referred to Burcham throughout his campaign.
What Perry didn't say was that he met her after he issued the executive order. Burcham had nothing to do with his decision to make that order. To infer he did, and to continually use this poor woman who is no longer on earth, is truly a low blow.
Last month, Perry also made a false statement about global warming. He said that there are a substantial number of scientists who have admitted to manipulating data and are now questioning man-made global warming. The fact is that skeptics are in the minority, and there is solid consensus among the major scientific organizations.
Michele Bachmann
Bachmann has been one of the worst offenders. At the end of June, Politifact.com, the Pulitzer Prize-winning fact checking service, found 17 of Bachmann's 24 statements to be false. Bachmann's nose has continued to grow longer since that time.
In Thursday night's debate, co-moderator Chris Wallace asked Bachmann if she stood by her claim that the HPV vaccine is potentially dangerous. Bachmann responded that she never made that claim or made a statement like that.
She can be heard speaking this statement on NBC's "Today" show, a little over a week before the debate.
Until we decide as a country that this is unacceptable, politicians will grow even more comfortable in spewing these lies to the American public. I'm in agreement with CNN's Anderson Cooper who says, "Do voters care about the truth?"
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