I believe the upcoming election is critically important for the future direction of the country. It is vital that voters inform themselves on facts that should influence their votes.

Unfortunately, a spate of e-mails disparaging Sen. Barack Obama as a candidate and potential future leader of our country has started to hit my inbox. Messages are being forwarded by friends who are not checking the messages' facts before simply forwarding them.

While the Internet and e-mail are great tools, they are limited as a source of information by the absence of fact-checking editors. Fortunately, there is a tool that can and should be used by anyone desiring to be truly informed: snopes.com. This tool verifies or invalidates accuracy of assertions being made in messages.

I am also bothered by the flood of letters to the editor blaming all of our current ills on the Democratic-controlled Congress. The facts are that, in the seven Congresses since the 1994 elections, the Republicans have had a majority in the Senate in five of those sessions, exceeding the number of Democrats by 10 or more in three of them.

There was an even split in the other two sessions, including the current one. On the House side, the Republicans had a majority in every session but the current one, exceeding the number of Democrats by 15 or more in four of the sessions.

Misrepresentations of facts, repeated often enough, take on the semblance of truth. I encourage all potential voters to take the extra step of verifying the accuracy of information you receive about any of the candidates. Only by doing this can you ensure that your vote will be a truly informed vote.

Brian Deaton, Pinehurst

Editor's Note: The writer is Chairman of the Moore County Democratic Party.