“Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts.”- former Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan
“We must be true to ourselves. And we must be true to others, whether they believe we are or not.” - former Senator John McCain
I never really thought that we would come to a time where we can’t agree on basic facts in our everyday political discourse. We have left facts and right facts, each echoing in their own chambers. We have alternative facts. We have bots and trolls lurking on social media, spouting and spreading disinformation about everything from medicine to elections right in front of our eyes.
It can all seem overwhelming just trying to navigate through this swamp. Surely our government is dependent on a solid foundation of facts to function properly? One would hope so.
Vote Smart is proud to be a key player in helping keep politicians accountable. From our extensive database highlighting key votes and public statements, to launching our election year tools Vote Easy and Side by Side, we help you navigate through the election year promises, smears and vitriol to get to the facts. It should be easy to hire people based on their backgrounds, experience and positions, especially when they make decisions that affect your everyday life. And maybe if someone is crowing about a new bridge in their district, we should check and see if they voted to fund that bridge in the first place.
And sharing what you find is vital to keeping our government working. Only then can we truly see the value of fact-based political discourse to drag us out of the swamp that is steadily consuming our ability to self-govern. Your support is key to helping us keep politics out of facts. Thank you for having our backs at VoteSmart.org.
Lori Hunt Vote Smart Membership Associate
