Wondering about the tax whisperer

January 26, 2008

It’s no surprise that taxes are playing a big role the presidential campaign. But the topic took a bizarre turn in the Republican candidates’ debate Thursday night from Boca Raton, Fla.

Conspiracy theorists say a whispered "he raised taxes" was a cue to Mitt Romney to enable him to more smoothly answer a vague question posed by NBC’s Tim Russert.

Decide for yourself. Below is a video clip; if your browser isn’t picking up the YouTube item, watch it at this link.

I guess since the debate was so low-key and polite, we needed something, anything, to spice it up.

You can read more on the contretemps at

And you can read more on the tax (and other) views of all the candidates in this AP story and in this spreadsheet created by the Tax Policy Center.

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Comments
  • Is it clear? Yes, that someone whispered “raised taxes,” but who? Romney adviser? One moderator to another? I don’t believe it was a Romney person because why would that person be near an open mike? I suspect it was one of the NBC guys talking to another one to make sure they were on the same page for any follow-up questions.

  • Why do you say conspiracy theorists? It’s quite clear from the video what happened.

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