PolitiFact.com to Track Over 500 Campaign Promises with 'Obameter'

By: E&P Staff PolitiFact.com, the fact-checking Web site of the St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times, has launched a reporting effort to track President-elect Barack Obama's campaign promises and measure the progress of his presidency.

The site has compiled 510 promises for a new feature called the ?Obameter? that will track the progress of the new president's agenda and providing readers with an up-to-the-minute report card. PolitiFact writers will research the status of each campaign promise and select a rating -- ?No Action,? ?In the Works? or ?Stalled? on the site's Obameter. Once they conclude that action has been completed, they will rate whether it was a ?Promise Kept,? ?Compromise? or ?Promise Broken.?

The award-winning site will also continue to use its Truth-O-Meter to fact-check statements and attacks in American politics, this time focusing on Washington.

Although we rely on the new technology of the Web to publish our work, our mission remains a simple and traditional one: to empower democracy,? said Bill Adair, PolitiFact?s editor.