News stories can be corrected, but what about editorial cartoons?

Sometimes journalists make mistakes in their reporting, resulting in a correction. But what happens when a cartoonist does a cartoon based on a story that ends up being corrected?

On Sept. 11, Roll Call noted that U.S. Rep Jean Schmidt (R-Ohio) was "lingering in the Chamber" along with other representatives after Congress adjourned.

As reported by David DeWitt at PolitickerOH.com, the campaign of her opponent in the race for Ohio's 2nd Congressional District, Dr. Victoria Wulsin (D-Indian Hill) criticized Schmidt for missing a vote for an $8 billion bill to rescue the federal highway trust fund. The fund relies on the federal gas tax, which has seen declining revenue.

The bill passed 376-29, with 28 members of the U.S. House missing the vote, including Schmidt.

Jean Schmidt's spokesperson Bruce Pfaff said Schmidt had missed the vote "because she needed to get home for personal reasons related to her daughter, who is pregnant."

As a result, I filed the following cartoon, commenting on the apparent hypocrisy of Schmidt missing an important vote, yet being in Washington, even as her spokesperson claimed she was in Cincinnati:

Today, Roll Call has run a correction on their original story, stating that "an earlier version of this article misidentified Rep. Michelle Bachmann (R-Minn.) and attributed a quote from her to Rep. Jean Schmidt (R-Ohio)."

As a result, the cartoon that I completed on Thursday was completely incorrect. I decided it would be a good idea to do the following "cartoon apology" to make amends:

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More from Politicker.com editorial cartoonist Rob Tornoe:

• Tornoe's Toons: Sarah Palin doesn't seem to be aging well
• Tornoe's Toons: Sarah Palin: Before and After
• Cartoonist fights back against charges of racism
• Tornoe's Toons: You can put lipstick on the media, but it's still the media
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