Report: U.S. political ads degenerate

WASHINGTON, Sept. 23 (UPI) -- Some political analysts say campaign ads for major-party U.S. presidential candidates are routinely riddled with claims that are misleading or outright false.

USA Today said Tuesday that analysts and media outlets that have been fact-checking the flow of political advertising this year have noted that sketchy claims that are the basis of negative ads have become routine fodder.

Doug Bailey, who runs the political tip-sheet Hotline, told USA Today that the dirt is no longer being fling exclusively by outside political groups on behalf of the candidates.

"Now you have the candidates authorizing ads run by the campaigns themselves which are just blatantly false," he said.

The newspaper said Republican John McCain seems to be the most flagrant offender when it comes to "truthiness" but noted that Democrat Barack Obama was taken to task recently by The New York Times editorial page for gong "down into the deceptive-campaign-ad gutter."

Part of the reason the allegedly misleading ads have thrived, some observers said, are the friendly confines of talk radio and partisan blogs that provide only the fodder that their fans want to hear, USA Today said.