The truth, the whole truth and anything but...

Karen McCarthy reports from New York on the trail of deceit as US presidential candidates take liberties with the truth.

IT’S A frenzy of fibs and flip-flops, gaffes and attacks, and tall-tales from the campaign trail. An election season when freedom of speech means no truth-in-advertising and that candidates have free rein to lie to voters as much as they like.

Some yarns have been debunked. Senator Barack Obama, it turns out, did not want to replace the national anthem with I’d Like To Teach The World To Sing, and Senator John McCain did not invent the Blackberry. Despite Governor Mike Huckabee’s mathematical prowess, Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin did not get more votes as Mayor of Wasilla than Senator Joe Biden got running for president.