Throw the flag on: The Obama campaign.
Call: False start.
What happened: The campaign sent out a release Friday quoting Rep. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., saying that fellow Republican John McCain killed a bailout deal.
"Congressman Blunt just confirmed what's been clear since John McCain rode into Washington at the eleventh hour — Senator McCain's political theatrics succeeded only in stopping a bipartisan deal," Obama spokesman Bill Burton said.
The statement offered the damning quote from Blunt, the House minority whip: "Clearly, yesterday, his position on that discussion yesterday was one that stopped a deal from finalizing." The campaign linked to an online video of the quote.
Why that's wrong:
Blunt's words were taken out of context and the video was edited to make his remarks appear more critical of McCain than they actually were.
The video starts after Blunt credited McCain with helping, and it cuts off before Blunt says that McCain helped to stop a part of the deal that House Republicans already opposed.
His full quote is quite different from the edited one the Obama camp used:
"I do think that John McCain was very helpful in what he did," Blunt said. "Clearly, yesterday, his position on that discussion yesterday was one that stopped a deal from finalizing that no House Republican, in my view, would have been for, which means it wouldn't have probably passed the House."
Penalty: Set back the Obama campaign's credibility five yards.
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