Mission statement
We show voters what a candidate said. They decide what it means.
Facts First PAC does one thing: puts a candidate's own words in front of voters and lets them decide.
This is not about anyone's faith.
Not liberal Jews, not Jews of any political stripe. Religion is not a political position, and we will never treat it as one. If our work is ever used to suggest otherwise, it is being used against our stated purpose.
What we are addressing.
The Democratic Socialists of America endorse candidates for federal, state, and local office across the country. Those candidates have stated their beliefs publicly, for years, at length. So has the organization that endorsed them. Both records are public. Neither is hidden.
We quote both accurately, cite the source on screen, and invite anyone to check.
We take candidates at their word. All of it.
No editing tricks. No paraphrase. No inference. Voters can read what was said and reach their own conclusion. Our only argument is that they should get to see it first.
An organization is not a person.
This is the distinction we hold most tightly, because it is the one that is easiest to blur and most damaging to get wrong.
A candidate who accepts an endorsement has not thereby said everything the endorsing organization has ever said. Members disagree with their organizations. Organizations change positions. Candidates change positions, and are entitled to say so.
So we keep three things apart and label each one plainly: what a candidate said, sourced to the candidate; that an endorsement was made, sourced to DSA's own announcement; and what DSA's platform says, sourced to DSA and attributed to no individual. When we want to tell voters a candidate holds a position, we quote the candidate holding it. If we cannot, we do not say it.
The standard we hold ourselves to.
- 01State the fact.Verbatim quotation. Ellipses only where removed words do not change the meaning. If we cannot quote it exactly, we do not run it.
- 02Cite the source.Publication, platform, and date appear on screen with the quote — in video, in print, and here. Every item links to an archived copy of the original.
- 03Attribute precisely.Candidate statements to the candidate. Platform planks to the organization. Never one in place of the other.
- 04Invite verification.We publish the primary documents, and we publish candidates' responses alongside their statements. We want you to check our work.
- 05Correct in public.If we get something wrong, we say so on this site, in the same place the error appeared. Send us a correction.
State the fact.
Cite the source.
Invite verification.