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  Whisperers Anonymous

  

  Did George Bush pass his bulge down to Mitt Romney? In 2004, Bush infamously had a giant, microphonelike bump on his back during a debate against John Kerry. Rumors were flying that Bush had a direct line to Karl Rove during the debate and that Rove was feeding him answers to the questions (even though Bush turned in a terrible performance). Last night, Bush’s Bulge begat a cousin: the Romney Whisper.

  At last night’s debate, Tim Russert asked Romney if he would follow Reagan’s example on Social Security. Russert was careful not to tell Romney that Reagan raised taxes to help Social Security funds, so somebody else tried to tell Romney instead. After Russert finishes his question, a Lost-like whisper is heard that mutters, “Raise taxes.” Romney answered that he would not raise taxes, and then Russert giddily informed him that that’s not the case. 

  We asked MSNBC why the whisper came through, and MSNBC’s spokesman responded via e-mail.

  We heard the same thing you heard. There was obviously an open mike which picked up the whisper, but we have no way of knowing who did the whispering.

  So, who is the whisperer? Three schools of thought reign in the blogosphere:

  1. It was a Romney staffer trying to talk to Romney.
  2. It was a producer trying to talk to Russert.
  3. It was another candidate whispering the answer to himself or his neighbor.

  But forget about what us bloggers think. Decide for yourself after watching the clip at Slate V. 

  With Alex Joseph.

  Published Friday, January 25, 2008 3:53 PM by Chadwick Matlin
  Email Chadwick.Matlin+TH@gmail.com

  Filed under: debate, Mitt Romney

About Chadwick Matlin

• Chadwick Matlin is the staff reporter for Slate's The Big Money, a new business site launching in the fall. He can be reached at Chadwick.Matlin+TH@gmail.com