I saw this on Neatorama the other day and thought it was pretty interesting. Politifact.com has created The Obameter: Tracking Obama's Campaign Promises. I've always felt like campaigns, presidential or otherwise, tend to be so much talk geared toward what people most want to hear. It reminds me of the kid in middle school running for student body president who would make ridiculous promises like: vending machines in the cafeteria that would spit out free Jolt colas.This is a good way to provide a little accountability and find out if we really are getting what we bargained for in this last election. Whether you voted for Obama or not, I think it's helpful.
There are six levels of assessment for 510 pledges Obama made during his campaign that the Obameter is following: Promise Kept, Compromise, Promise Broken, Stalled, In the Works, and No Action.
No promises have been rated Promise Broken yet. For the good of everybody, red or blue, I hope there aren't any. Stay tuned.
UPDATE: Sadly, before I could even finish and publish this entry, this showed up. Promise #234: Allow five days of public comment before signing bills. To reduce bills rushed through Congress and to the president before the public has the opportunity to review them, Obama "will not sign any non-emergency bill without giving the American public an opportunity to review and comment on the White House website for five days.
"One of President Obama's major campaign planks was making government more open and accountable. It's a reaction to a habit in Congress of rushing bills through the House and Senate without giving people much opportunity to know what the bills would do. Indeed, sometimes members of Congress don't even know what's in the bills."
Ironically, he broke this promise by signing a bill into law that fulfilled another promise - #411: Work to overturn Ledbetter vs. Goodyear, the Supreme Court's recent ruling that curtails racial minorities' and women's ability to challenge pay discrimination - but still, that's accountability.
