Friday, January 25, 2008
Romney's 'bulge'?/UPDATE from MSNBC
dr. elsewhere here
Ok, I've alerted Joe to this story, as it's his claim to fame, but now I've seen it in two locations, Rawstory and CrooksandLiars.
Seems that, at one point in the Repug debates last night, after Russert asked Romney if he would do what Reagan did for Social Security in 1983....
evidently there is a quite audible whisper "raise taxes" before Romney says he will not raise taxes. (The CrooksandLiars link has video.)
Aside from the fact that Romney's answer was not the "right" one in terms of what Reagan actually did (Reagan actually raised taxes, which Russert was journalistically astute enough to point out), the fact that Romney at least attached to the topic the whisper "directed" him to is particularly curious. I mean, it could have been the previously speaking candidate's mike was still on, and he muttered this under his breath (was it Chucklebee??).
This could be nothing at all. Or, it could get very interesting, because whatever happened, Romney appears to have flubbed his answer by not knowing what Reagan did, and then had to cover his rearend.
Sigh. Not to be pejorative, but even contenders for the Special Olympics show better preparation than this.
[Update by JC: I've embedded a YouTube video capturing the moment. I like the theory that the voice is that of the angel Moroni. Or maybe it's a talking salamander?]
UPDATE (from dr. e): Evidently there was some follow-up inquiry, but with the most unsatisfying response. Seems MSNBC is simply saying they had some audio trouble with Mitt's mike. But that doesn't tell us where the mike whisperer came from.
Like i said, they probably failed to switch the audio feed to Mitt from whomever preceded him, but that's easy enough to include in the email response to inquiry.
And then there's my inability to believe Chucklebee would know such a detail as that. However, it is plausible that the audio director simply pushed the wrong mike button in the control room and picked up someone like McCain (about the only one I can think of on that stage who would know that).
Whatever; we'll see if MSNBC offers further explanation.
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3 comments:
It seems like the whole thing is scripted, doesn't it ?
Joseph, OT, I've been waiting for you to make an Italian report, it seems that the PP's over there have done it again, a perfect example too. I'll come back with a link later iffin I can find it.
Flo
LOL!! angel moroni, indeed.
i'll bet it's merely an open mike, the more i think about it, but that doesn't let the mittster off the hook for not knowing what reagan actually did! egg on his face no matter which way it scrambles.
and thanks, joe, for grabbing the video; still need to learn such luxuries. (and i have the nerve to scold mitt for being ignorant!)
Aside from the fact that Romney's answer was not the "right" one in terms of what Reagan actually did (Reagan actually raised taxes, which Russert was journalistically astute enough to point out)
Eh, it's not clear from that clip that Romney thought Reagan didn't raise taxes - his response could have been a way of acknowledging that Reagan raised taxes and saying that he wasn't going to do what Reagan did. In fact, that's the likely explanation.
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