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When you’re faced with someone who misrepresents the truth, you can find all the facts you need right here—along with ways to share the message with whoever needs to hear it.

The Very Latest

  • How this happened

    President Obama sent this message to supporters on election night.

    I want you to know that this wasn’t fate, and it wasn’t an accident. You made this happen.

    You organized yourselves block by block. You took ownership of this campaign five and ten dollars at a time. And when it wasn’t easy, you pressed forward.

    I will spend the rest of my presidency honoring your support, and doing what I can to finish what we started.

    But I want you to take real pride, as I do, in how we got the chance in the first place.

    Today is the clearest proof yet that, against the odds, ordinary Americans can overcome powerful interests.

    There’s a lot more work to do.

    But for right now: Thank you.

  • Election Day: What are you waiting for?

    It’s Election Day, and Deputy Campaign Manager Stephanie Cutter only has one message for you: Get to the polls, and once you’ve voted, make sure your friends, family, and neighbors vote too. This is our last chance to move the country forward, so what are you waiting for?

  • Straight-ticket voting: What you need to know

    Millions of Americans are heading to the polls to make one of the most important choices our country has faced in a generation. When you step into the voting booth, there are a few important things you should know about your ballot. In some states, Americans will have an option to vote “straight ticket”—or, vote for a party’s entire slate of candidates.

    You are not required to vote straight ticket. You can vote for Barack Obama and other candidates on an individual basis. But in no way does voting straight ticket invalidate your vote for president.

    If you choose to vote straight ticket, here’s what you need to know:

    1. In some states, like North Carolina, voting straight ticket does not mean you have voted for president. You must make two marks on the ballot. Mark once for the Democratic “straight-ticket” AND once for Barack Obama. You must check both boxes to vote for Barack Obama for president. Just choosing the “straight-ticket” option for Democrats will not count as a vote for President Obama.

    2. In some states, like Iowa, marking “Straight Democratic Ticket” does count as a vote for Barack Obama. You do not need to make more than one mark. And doing this does not invalidate your vote for President.

    Voting is easy when you have all the information you need. Your vote takes only a few minutes, but it has the power to change the next four years. This Election Day, make sure you get to the polls and vote to move our country forward.

    For more information, go to vote.barackobama.com.

  • Ten things you should know about Romney’s extreme stance on women’s rights

    Mitt Romney will say anything to win, even if it’s not true. After months of championing an extreme platform that drastically rolls back women’s rights, Romney is now dishonestly trying to hide his actual positions that will jeopardize women’s health. Here are the 10 things you need to know about where the real Romney stands on women’s health and women’s rights.

    1. Romney has said he’d be “delighted” to sign a federal bill banning all abortions.

    2. Romney backed a state-level bill to ban all abortions, even in cases of rape or incest.

    3. Romney is head of the Republican Party, whose platform seeks to ban abortion and did not include exceptions for rape or incest. The platform “was written at the direction of Romney’s campaign.”

    4. Romney has said he would have “absolutely” supported an amendment in Massachusetts, similar to extreme Personhood bills proposed in other states, that could have banned abortions and some forms of birth control.

    5. Romney promised to appoint Supreme Court justices who would “hopefully reverse Roe v. Wade,” viewing the ruling as “bad law and bad medicine” and “one of the darkest moments in Supreme Court history.”

    6. Romney pledged he’d be an anti-choice president, and will “of course” champion anti-choice legislation if elected.

    7. Romney claimed to be pro-choice in 1993 because poll data showed he had to be pro-choice to win his 1994 race for the Senate. As governor in 2005, he decided he was anti-choice.

    8. Romney pledged to defund Planned Parenthood and Title X family planning funding.

    9. Romney’s running mate Paul Ryan co-sponsored a bill that narrowed the definition of rape to “forcible rape.”

    10. Romney said “of course” he supports a bill that would allow any employer to deny women coverage for birth control.

    Women don’t turn to politicians for advice about their health care, but Romney believes that politicians should be involved. This is Romney’s record, and he can’t run from it no matter how hard he tries. As his top surrogate Governor Chris Christie declared, Romney “is deeply committed” to his anti-choice agenda.

    Find out more about what Romney and Ryan would mean for American women here, then commit to vote to help make sure the next president will take us forward, not back.

  • What the Romney-Ryan ticket would mean for women’s health and women’s rights

    With Mitt Romney at the helm, the GOP has been steadily chipping away at women’s health and women’s rights. They oppose abortion rights and have pledged to “get rid of” Planned Parenthood funding. Even worse, Rep. Todd Akin—in explaining his opposition to abortion even in cases of rape—said victims of “legitimate rape” don’t get pregnant because “the female body has ways to try and shut that whole thing down.”

    Akin’s egregious, false, and deeply disturbing view only exemplifies how extreme the Republican Party—led by Romney and Ryan—has become on issues important to women. Take a look at where the GOP ticket stands on women’s health:

    • Redefine rape: Ryan co-sponsored a bill that, among other things, narrowed the definition of rape to “forcible rape.” As the National Women’s Law Center explained, the proposal “speaks to a distinction between rape where there must be some element of force in order to rise to the standard, and rape where this is not ... it takes us back to a time where just saying no was not enough.”

    • Ban abortion even in cases of rape or incest: Romney backed a proposal to outlaw all abortion, even in cases of rape and incest. He also supports the Republican Party platform, which includes a Human Life Amendment that bans abortion without those exceptions. Ryan co-sponsored a personhood bill that defines life as beginning at conception—a definition that would mean “abortion and some forms of birth control could be construed as murder.”

    • Employer control over birth control coverage: Romney said “of course” he supports a bill that would’ve allowed any employer to deny women coverage for birth control. Ryan co-sponsored a similar proposal in the House and called the Obamacare rule that provides access to contraception without out-of-pocket costs “an affront to religious liberty.”

    • Defund Planned Parenthood: Romney pledged to “get rid of” funding for Planned Parenthood. Ryan repeatedly voted to eliminate federal funding for Planned Parenthood, an organization that provides crucial health services to women across the country. All federal funding goes towards medical services like reproductive health services, birth control, cancer screenings—but not abortion services.

    Every day, women across American grapple with extremely difficult and deeply personal health decisions that should be made between a woman and her doctor, not dictated by politicians. While President Obama is committed to protecting a woman’s right to make her own health decisions, the Romney-Ryan ticket would “take us back to the policies more suited to the 1950s than the 21st century.”

    That is the stark and clear difference in this election.