PolitiFact.com
The story:

Debatable claims in N.H.

By Bill Adair
Published on Thursday, September 6th, 2007 at 4:16 p.m.


SUMMARY: Immigration and the Iraq war dominated the Republican candidates' Sept. 5, 2007, debate in Durham, N.H. Here are a few claims we checked:

• Duncan Hunter, a Republican House member from Southern California, earns a True for his claim that detainees at Guantanamo Bay get chicken and rice. And he can rightly take credit for building a border fence between San Diego and Tijuana, and he's correct that smuggling declined. But it declined along the entire San Diego County section of the border, which contains only sections of secure fencing. We give him a Mostly True.

• Ron Paul overstated the number of U.S. deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan. He said the number is "over 5,000," but the official count is 4,349. Since he was off by 13 percent, we rate the statement a Mostly True.

• Mike Huckabee is right that Arkansas has an amendment to its state constitution concerning human life, but he oversimplifies and overstates its impact. We give him a Barely True.

• Sam Brownback is correct that rates of heterosexual marriage have declined in Europe, but he fails to note that the decline began before gay marriage was legalized and is influenced by larger demographic trends. We give his claim a Barely True.

But Brownback has his numbers right for his claim about out-of-wedlock births, which earns a True.

Advertisement
About this story:

Sources:See individual Truth-O-Meter items for sources.

Researchers: Scott Montgomery

Names in this story: Sam Brownback, Mike Huckabee, Duncan Hunter, Ron Paul

How to contact us

We want to hear your suggestions and comments. For tips or comments on our campaign promise database, please e-mail the Obameter. If you are commenting on a specific promise, please include the promise number. For comments about our Truth-O-Meter or Flip-O-Meter items, please e-mail the Truth-O-Meter. We’re especially interested in seeing any chain e-mails you receive that you would like us to check out.

PolitiFact is a project of the St. Petersburg Times to help you find the truth in American politics. Reporters and editors from the Times fact-check statements by members of Congress, the White House, lobbyists and interest groups and rate them on our Truth-O-Meter. We’re also tracking more than 500 of Barack Obama’s campaign promises and are rating their progress on our new Obameter. >> More

St. Petersburg Times
Browse the Truth-O-Meter:
Browse the Obameter:
Subscribe
Advertisement