image by southtyrolean

As I watched the Presidential debates the other night, my head spun. Seemed like every other thing out of the candidates’ mouths was a either very high number I couldn’t relate to, or some variation on, “That’s just not true, Senator!” And I’m sure there will be statements that inspire more head-scratching at tonight’s Vice Presidential debate.

In my attempts to make sense of it all, I started looking around online for answers, and I found a few great sites that help cut right through the rhetoric and spin.

Factcheck.org breaks down the factual truth (or lack of truth!) in each candidate’s statements, including ads. This race has had more than its fair share of partial truths spun into denigrating stories, from both sides, so it’s great to have a resource like factcheck.org to get a little more context. This page breaks down the facts that were muddled in the first debate.

MAPlight.org’s tagline is “Money and Politics: Illuminating the Connection” and it does what it says. For every bill, for every campaign, the site breaks down who has contributed money to supporters and opposers. You can also use the site to check on the status of particular bills, like the Federal Solar Tax Credit which recently passed the Senate, but which may not be taken up by the House for months due to the bailout bill and all the other outstanding issues on their docket.

OpenSecrets.org also covers the link between money and politics, including detailed analytical articles that break down the connections between lobbyists and politicians. For instance, did you know that financial sector lobbyists gave 51% more money to the legislators who voted in favor of the bailout bill than to those who voted against it? Interesting, no?

Finally, if you are specifically interested in the candidates’ energy policies and the differences between them (I know I am!) then check out this comparison article and chart by CNET News, from a report by UK research group New Energy Finance.

From the report:
We expect either a President Obama or a President McCain to pursue more vigorous policies on clean energy and emission reductions than President Bush has done for the last eight years. Obama is arguably being more imaginative, but he is also taking more of a centrally planned approach. McCain’s regional approach, and in particular his insistence on tariff reductions, has much to recommend it. But neither candidate has yet put forward a fully comprehensive plan, and we are hoping to see them developing their policies more completely--particularly towards the encouragement of renewable power generation and energy efficiency--during the final few weeks of the campaign.

Do you know of any other great resources for getting to know more about the candidates’ real ideas and policies, behind the half-truths and spin? Let us know in the comments.