Political fact-checking databases: for those of us who don't know what to think anymore

The following four web sites are helpful for the politically jaded, though there are a few glitches in some of their presentations.  Here are my thoughts on each of them.

Factcheck.org:

This site is less a database in the sense that it is a daily check on the campaigns of our presidential candidates in blog form. The headlines give a snippet of what the post is going to dole out as true or false, but visitors of the site have to read the full post in order to get the big picture. I like the site's presentation, though. It's colorful, but it's not difficult to navigate.  It also has an easy search engine of its archives that lists results in chronological order, which is convenient. 

The posts seem to be relatively even-keeled in the data they provide, as in they call out both candidates (and their running mates) for lying through their teeth. For example, here is an excerpt from its most recent post:

McCain has made multiple false representations of Obama's tax proposals. Obama has made false claims about Mccain's stance on Social Security. Both McCain and Obama have traded some whoppers about their energy policies, about Iraq, and about Iran, and about supporting troops. 

But, unfortunately, readers can't comment on the posts, which is something Factchecker may want to try in order to get feedback.  One last thing that they need to work on is that some of their multimedia presentations, like their Youtube videos, are not so easy to watch or listen to. I myself am lazy and impatient when it comes to technology, and appreciate convenience. Maybe this is for the tech pros to work on, but if they could just make it easier to get to, it would help. 

Politifact.com:

I really like how easy it is to access multimedia presentations on this site.  You get all the ads from campaigns they post at the click of a mouse. Its like my very own easy button. I also like how they display their facts about campaign malarky.  The attack file is creative (who wouldn't giggle at the visual of a candidate's "pants of fire"?) and still very informative. The only thing I think I would consider adding, as with Factchecker, is a place for readers to respond to the information provided.  

Washington Post Votes Database:

Not much in the game with presentation, this database is information central for political candidates of the Congress, both House and Senate, and who is voting for them. It does provide pictures with the names of the candidates for each state, whom some of us may not know (by some of us, I mean myself), and it gives percentages of votes from specific parties. Because this is literally a database of information and not just posts about information, I'm not sure I would change anything. It is very well organized, though maybe a little boring to look at. But go check it out... find out who's running in your state so you can be "in the know."

Project Vote Smart:

"The voter's self-defense system." Aesthetically pleasing to readers, this particular site has a little bit of everything to attract visitors, including a tidy system for finding information on those representatives you might not know.  It even has voter registration information for each state.  I'm pretty sure, other than a commenting capability (again), that I would find everything I need to about candidates in any state.  Unlike the first couple of sites, though,  I wouldn't find anything juicy about our future leaders, and what fun is that? 

So from this small bit of analysis, my conclusion and suggestion to everyone is this: if you are interested in finding out all you can about the people who want to run your state and country, just go to all four. It can't hurt, and it will definitely help shed some light on some murky issues.