Ad in RealVideo

Another in a series evaluating the accuracy of political advertising.

Title: "Compare"
Candidate: George W. Bush
Markets: Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida and 14 other states
Producer: Maverick Media
Time: 30 seconds

Audio: Al Gore's prescription plan forces seniors into a government-run HMO. Governor Bush gives seniors a choice. Gore says he's for school accountability, but requires no real testing. Governor Bush requires tests and holds schools accountable for results. Gore's targeted tax cuts leave out 50 million people – half of all taxpayers. Under Bush, every taxpayer gets a tax cut and no family pays more than a third of their income to Washington. Governor Bush has real plans that work for real people:

Analysis: In a classic contrast ad furthering his theme that Gore is untrustworthy, Bush misrepresents the vice president's drug plan. First, it isn't mandatory; seniors can opt for drug coverage or not. Second, Medicare recipients could remain in traditional choose-your-own-doctor plans. Drug payments would be administered through private cost-control groups – such as those now employed by the insurance industry – that are not "government-run" or health maintenance organizations. In fact, many analysts say Bush's plan, while providing choices, would encourage more seniors to join cost-conscious HMOs. Bush's education plan does place more emphasis than Gore's on holding schools accountable, though the Texas governor spends less. Bush's $1.3-trillion tax cut reaches far more Americans than Gore's $500-billion cut, which is tied to specific behavior, and the Gore camp essentially concedes the point by saying that 40 million taxpayers, not 50 million, would get no benefit.