Doing a fact check after a political campaign commercial is already off the air is not much of a public service, no matter how loudly the Journal Sentinel brags on its new PolitiFact feature.
Looking at a spot when it begins to run makes much more sense and actually gives people some information that might be useful when they see the commercial again and again and again.
Case in point: The latest Ron Johnson ad, in which one person after another trashes Russ Feingold as a career politician.
The Associated Press reports:
Johnson's ad falsely claims that Feingold never worked outside politics. Feingold was a private practice attorney from 1979 to 1985.
By contrast, here is the entire Journal Sentinel online post about it:
Ron Johnson, running for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate, unveiled a new ad today in which he attacks U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold for being a career politician.
People in the ad said Feingold "never created a job or has ever met a payroll." Later, another person in the ad says Feingold is "right in the Redi-Pelosi-Obama camp." That is a reference to Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nevada); House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.); and President Barack Obama.
UPDATE: A later story at least includes this:
As to charges he has never worked outside of public office, Feingold has worked for two law firms in the state. His clients, he said, were business people.