Obama campaign establishes N.C. 'truth team'

Barack Obama's campaign named a North Carolina "Truth Team" on Monday as part of a national effort to counter Republican attacks on the president's record.

The state team members will help spread the campaign's messages, acting at a local level to stop the spread of misinformation and sow questions about the eventual Republican Party nominee. "As a local elected official, we are pretty close to the people on the ground," explained Durham Mayor Bill Bell, a team member. "And this campaign is all about the grassroots."

Other state team members include U.S. Reps. G.K. Butterfiled and David Price, state Rep. Tricia Cotham and Fayetteville councilwoman Val Applewhite.

The effort is primarily directed through four websites run by the national campaign: BarackObama.com/TruthTeam, KeepingHisWord.com, KeepingGOPHonest.com and AttackWatch.com. The sites allow users to send personalized emails to help spread the word.

It represents the latest digital iteration of what is known in campaign paralance as "rapid response," and will help blunt attacks as well as level attacks against Republicans.

"We refuse to sit back idylly and let them go unchecked," Bell said.

Republicans were quick to respond back. “The Obama campaign is organizing propaganda teams to deceive voters because Americans are catching onto the reality that Obama’s record doesn’t match his rhetoric,” said Republican National Committee spokesman Matt Connelly in a statement. “How else will they mask more broken promises like another trillion dollar deficit or the fact the president continues to recycle the same failed policies despite a lack of results?”