Checking the Charges Flying at Conventions
It's high political season in Texas. Photo courtesy Newfrontiers at flickr.com/newfrontiersmedia/Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
It was a refrain at last week’s state Republican convention: Barack Obama is a socialist. Meantime, a U.S. Senate candidate at the state Democratic convention declared that his July runoff opponent previously ran statewide as a Republican. KUT’s Ben Philpott went over the contentions with Gardner Selby of the Austin American-Statesman’s PolitiFact Texas.
On the GOP’s oft-made claim of socialism, which has been oft-investigated:
PolitiFact itself, in Washington and nationally, has done it a number of times as far back as 2008, when Sarah Palin leveled the charge. In each case there’s been not enough basis to it to even consider it Mostly False; it’s been judged every time as preposterous.
On Paul Sadler’s assertion that Grady Yarbrough ran twice for statewide office as a Republican:
Yarbrough ran as a Republican for state land commissioner in 1986 and 1990. He also ran as a Democrat for state treasurer in 1994.
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