How is that for a headline?

Last week I noted how two competing online Web sites were reporting conflicting news about Hillary Clinton’s fund raising. Today I bring you the latest bit of monetary cognitive dissonance only this time involving John McCain.

According to Bob Novak of the Chicago Sun Times John McCain’s campaign is lagging behind in Q2 and is likely to fall short of the $10 million goal.

Not so says another report from Marc Ambinder who talked to John Weaver, chief strategist of the McCain team, who says not only will the campaign meet their goal but will exceed it, potentially by $2.5 million.

So which one is it?

My guess is the official campaign response, though we will see. McCain was pretty candid about his lack of fund raising prowess last quarter and also candid about why that was. Namely he wasn’t going out and doing his job as a candidate. Looking back at McCain’s schedule over the last three months he has been packing in fund raising events as often as possible. Now that isn’t a guarantee that they are filled to the brim with people handing out cash but it is a sign the campaign is trying.

Still I have no insider information and I am not sure where Novak got his, so let me qualify what I just said and say I have no idea if I am right and only time will tell. Still it is a lesson to bloggers and the public to not just read a headline or the first paragraph of an article and run with it. Always look for the mention of more than one source (when possible) and consider what other factors might be involved in the writing of an article. Also consider that the rebuttal might well be a total mountain of bull flop as well.