A University-affiliated Web site that focuses on verifying the validity of political statements almost gained national recognition Tuesday night.
In his faceoff with Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.), Vice President Dick Cheney urged viewers to go to www.factcheck.com to check the truth of his assertions about Halliburton.
What the vice president intended, however, was to send his audience to the Annenberg Public Policy Center's www.factcheck.org.
The Annenberg Web site analyzes the truth behind the claims made in presidential advertisements and announcements.
Where Cheney directed viewers, however, was ultimately the Web site of major Democratic party financial contributor George Soros. Though Soros does not own www.factcheck.com, the Web site's owners forwarded traffic on the site to Soros' personal Web site.
The vice president's gaffe gained national media attention and boosted traffic to the previously little-known site into the thousands.
Most of the parties involved are making efforts to air the mistake.
Soros' Web site issued a statement saying it had nothing to do with the redirection of traffic.
-- Laura Sullivan
