The Tax Whisperer — Romney debate answer sparks intrigue

I saw a couple of headlines earlier about Mitt Romney and “whispers” during last night’s debate, and paid no attention to it. Then, a reliable friend emailed me, and encouraged me to give this a serious look. I did, and I have to admit, it’s odd.

Here’s the relevant portion, from the debate in Boca. To hear the part that’s causing such a stir, you may need to put on headphones, and turn the volume up a bit.

For those of you who can’t watch clips online, the video shows Tim Russert speaking to Romney: “I know you’re a big fan of Ronald Reagan. Will you do for Social Security what Ronald Reagan did in 1983?” When Romney pauses to answer, there’s a distinct, audible whisper from someone who says, “Raise taxes” (or, possibly, “raised taxes”). A moment later, Romney said, “I’m not going to raise taxes.”

It’s not just the YouTube clip. It was apparently part of the live broadcast.

So, what on earth was that whisper all about?

I suspect the most innocuous explanation is that one of the other candidates on the stage, all of whom had live microphones, must have whispered the comment to themselves, perhaps making a note on the pad in front of them. That it happened shortly before Romney answered is just a coincidence.

Of course, for the more suspicious minds among us, I should note that MSNBC published an item exploring the mysterious whisper, but the item has since been removed, without explanation.

One can’t help but be reminded of the now-infamous flap from 2004 about the “bulge” behind Bush’s jacket during one of the presidential debates, but that became a fun little diversion because it reinforced suspicions about the president’s ability (or inability) to answer questions without assistance.

With Romney, it’s an entirely different story. Romney has plenty of shortcomings, but no one seriously believes he’s a dim bulb, needing someone to feed him answers at a debate.

So, what’s the story here? I have no idea, but my guess is that it’ll make for entertaining speculation, but there’s probably nothing to it.

Update: Raw Story got a response from MSNBC:

“We had some audio issues and Gov. Romney’s mike wasn’t working momentarily. Simple as that,” MSNBC VP for Communications Jeremy Gaines said in a one-line e-mail response to questions about overheard whisper.

The response leaves some questions unanswered, such as, Whose voice did viewers hear, and why did MSNBC apparently scrub a reference to the Whisper from its Web site?

I doubt there’s anything nefarious going on, but a) the microphone-malfunction explanation seems odd; and b) news outlets should realize by now that pulling a published item, and then pretending it didn’t exist, is a no-no. It’s far preferrable to keep a published item online with a correction, addendum, or editor’s note.

That is definitely a WTF kinda thing there.

Maybe the whisperer was one of Mitt’s repressed personalities. Could explain some of the flipflopping.

  • Romneys intelligence has little to do with the controversy here. Matthews made a career out of “gotcha” questions, and I’m sure the Romney camp would be damned if they were going to get stumped by one. Too many multinational corporations and political thinktanks have an interest in him winning.
    That said, if MSNBC would have addressed it and cleared things up with the blog post I wouldn’t be suggesting a conspiracy, but they certainly left the door open for one by posting the item then pulling it.

  • That this is anything more than a technical malfunction is ludicrous. All the conspiracy butts will jump on this but Romney will not stoop to such tactics and has no need to do so anyway, he is very sharp and articulate. In a way, it’s sad, He is by far the most credible and qualified candidate the GOP has fielded for a long time. But the vapid haters can’t see that and assume that because he is good, he must be a phony or a robot. He is genuinely a very nice guy who can lead America back to greatness. I’d love to have a president we can respect in office and I believe Romney is the best persone to do that.

  • It sounds to me like the whisperer said: “He raised taxes.” Timmeh did not actually say what Reagan did. It’s almost like Timmeh was asking a trick question, by asking if Romney would do what Reagan did, but then not specifying what exactly that was. So the whisperer was tipping Romney off.

  • Audio “whispers” were a problem throughout the entire debate. Listen again and you will find several instances where whispers were heard, one of the most obvious was just before one of the breaks. I actually thought it was Williams and Russert

    This is really grasping at straws. Mitt Romney wouldn’t need anyone to whisper answers to him and the suggestion that he’s wired is simply ludicrous. Romney has demonstrated time and again that he’s incredibly intelligent and can think on his feet. In this debate and all those previous, he has spoken faster, more succinctly and with more detail, than any other candidate …… and you think he’s wired? C’mon.
    .

  • In this debate and all those previous, he has spoken faster, more succinctly, from more different positions, out of more sides of his mouth and with more detail, than any other candidate

    There. Fixed it for you.
    It does indeed take a lot of talking to be on every side of every issue.

  • Mitt won the debate hands down. If this “conspiracy” is the only thing his competitors have on him, that in itself says a lot about Mitt. He’ll be the best President this country has seen in a long time.

  • I think it just proves that Romney really does say what the little voices in his head tell him to.

    /snark

  • That explanation given to Raw Story doesn’t really make sense. As you note, there was nothing in the original question that mentioned raising taxes, so it is not as if someone were just passing the question on to Romeny.

    Russert was obviously trying to stump/trick Romney, but then someone else whispered the key phrase to tip him off. Or something.

    MSNBC’s explanation doesn’t explain or even address this basic issue at all.

  • “That this is anything more than a technical malfunction is ludicrous”

    Huh? We really need to put our undying love for particular candidates aside and look at this. How is a human being whispering “He raised taxes” into a microphone a “technical malfunction”? MSNBC’s response so far has been that it was a problem with Mitt’s mic cutting out… but that doesn’t explain a whispering voice that was heard loud and clear by the millions who watched this debate. I’m still waiting for someone who isn’t a hard-core Mitt supporter to give a reasonable explanation, instead of the typical “he’s the greatest, so there is no issue here”. Come on.

  • Who knows what it was. But Romney is WAY too smart to stoop to such tactics knowing how easily it could derail his campaign. With so much of his own cash invested, do you think he’d risk it all on a wire? I doubt it.

    It had to be one of the other candidates speaking to themselves not aware that their mic was still on or someone down by the moderators. Either way it was heard in someone microphone. If it was caught in a microphone, the people in the auditorium would have heard it and none of the other candidates said anything so they didn’t think anything of it either. If Romney was wearing an earpiece, the only way we at home could have heard it is if it was heard through his own microphone which would have braodcast it through the auditorium. But no one said anything about it so it must have been someone near a mic that was either talking to themself or someone nearby. But Romney was not wearing an earpiece and anyone who suggests otherwise will be embarrassed when the real explanation is finally revealed.

  • The voice doesn’t sound at all like Williams, Russert, or Matthews to me. It wouldn’t make any sense for Russert to be whispering that immediately after he asked the question anyway. The question is who the hell was it. Regardless of what a brilliant genius of a statesman you think Romney is, that question’s still there. “Mitt’s the best” is not an answer.

  • Zeitgeist

    You obviously are far more influenced by the MSM and other unsupported sources than you are by the facts. Do a little research, my friend, and you will find a man who believes in individual rights and liberty, does NOT believe in discrimination of any kind and simply will not impose his personal beliefs on the American people. Herein lies the basis for his positions on abortion, gay rights, the 2nd ammendment, etc.
    http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2005/julyweb-only/22.0c.html

    Delve a little further and do some research on his father, George Romney, and you will find another brilliant problem solver and rare public SERVANT who cared so deeply for his fellow man.

    http://marriottschool.byu.edu/empa/Romney_George_Servant.pdf

    The apple didn’t fall far from the tree.

    Some people are just so cynical that they can’t understand this. The Romneys have been a gift to our country and to imply otherwise is simply ignorant.

  • Of course it was a technical malfunction. When someone has a prompting device in his ear that allows someone to send him information we’re not supposed to be able to hear it.

    Bush got caught doing this in a debate — Romney’s people thought they were being clever by getting him a smaller one. And then it somehow had a technical malfunction that let us hear it. Duh!

  • The voice clip has no particular accent, and whoever said it has very good diction.

    That most closely points to Brian Williams. Or maybe…maybe…Huckabee.

    Definitely not Chris Matthews, Russert, Ron Paul, Rudy, McCain.

  • OK, about the whisper thing.

    THINK about it. If Romney was wired, how was it that we never heard any of the other “answers” he was fed? Why did he look almost insulted when Russert went on to explain the questions further? (Because it was redundant/unnecessary)

    Whoever whispered “raised taxes” should come clean and get this whole thing over with. As I said before, there were several audio “whispers” throughout the debate, and not only when Romney was speaking.

    And even though I AM a Romney supporter, I as well, would like to hear a reasonable explanation from MSNBC

  • AMEN Cindy…. This whole thing is rediculous. If Gov. Romney’s “earpiece” was heard on live TV, the only way would heard it was through HIS microphone… which by the way would have sent it all throughout the auditorium. None of the other candidates objected and no one in the audience objected. So, since we only saw Gov. Romney when the voice was heard, the other candidates had a better view as to who was talking near a microphone and since no one objected, they obviously know it never came from Romney’s direction.

  • MITT IS BRILLIANT! He is an extremely articulate speaker and has no need for a wire. Of course people who hate him are going to say thats what it is, but I have no doubt that this was not an answer being fed to Mitt, that just doesn’t make any sense at all. If it was being fed through an earpiece how on earth would we have heard it, it just doesnt add up. It is strange though I will admit. I can’t figure out who it sounds like…it doesn’t sound like any of the canidates to me. There was more than one instance in the debate when you could hear these whispers though. MSNBC’s explanation is a load of crap and doesn’t make any sense. They should own up and tell the truth about whatever it is that happened. They obviously know.

  • Um, Cindy, your post responds to mine in what particular way?

    I said he takes multiple, changing positions on the issues, that he is a flip-flopper. You say he is a good person who doesn’t discriminate.

    I say tomato, you say tomahto, lets call the whole thing off.

  • Um, Zeit, you strayed from the original topic of “whispering” and instead interjected the flip-flop tune. I said it was obvious you hadn’t done any thorough research to support the flip-flopper allegations, nor, apparently, have you listened to Gov. Romney’s explanations on his positions.

    What we all should strive for, in either circumstance, is the truth,. Let’s just leave it at that.

  • The whisper didn’t just say “He raised taxes.” You can actually hear it say “I’m not gonna” right after it, right before Romney begins talking and says “I’m not gonna raise taxes.” That makes it clear that someone was feeding the line.

  • Zeit, if you want to bring up supposed flip-flops made by Mitt. Please do and we will explain them one by one and show you that he has only changed on a couple of positions. It’s the media portraying him as a flip-flopper and completely ignoring any explanations that carry clout. So.. I say.. bring it on.

  • Listen CLOSER.

    After “He raised taxes”, and right before Romney speaks, you can faintly here “I’m not gonna…” then it is cut off by Mitt’s talking.

    This was a cue, plain and simple. Who else is getting them, or for how long Mitt has been fed his lines, we’ll never know

  • Kenny… you must be hearing things. You don’t hear “I’m not gonna” anywhere…. someone needs to lay off the… nevermind.

  • LOL are you kidding me. That is just some whisper being picked up by the questioners mike. Mitt Romney is a CLASS ACT all the way. I hope he wins the General, we need him. I have voted for the Pachyderm party and the Ass party over the course of my life during presidential elections, and this time around, this guy is the best person runnin’ from either side. Right now we need someone intelligent and that can run the country more like a business. Sharp business minds are what makes the economy strong. Small government, smart business. Go MITT!

  • #15 Thanks for the awesome link!

    Romney is something!

    GO MITT!

    PS: Anyone with differing views about Romney
    they will not fly far… PLOP! There they are…
    dead in their tracks.

  • OK all you conspiracy theorists, someone explain to me the science behind Romney’s supposed earpeice suddenly becoming audible to the TV audience. It inexplicably went from earpeice volume to a volume audible to the microphone? If it had suddenly become that loud, you would have seen Romney jumping and holding his ear in pain. Stupid. Or maybe you think that his wireless device somehow started broadcasting on the same frequency as equipment at the college? Double stupid. It doesn’t matter whether you are a Romney fan or not, or how impressive you think he is as a speaker, if you just take the time to think through these accusations and implications you would see they are silly. You might as well theorize that he had an elf in his pocket feeding him the answers. It is much more likely that someone else, anyone in the place who had a microphone or was sitting somewhere near someone who had a microphone, was showing off their knowledge of 1980’s fiscal policy to whoever was sitting next to them and a live mic picked it up. Its either that or the elf thing. Don’t be so gullible.

  • I am from Mass and Mitt failed as a governor.
    When asked recently about that record , he said he inherited a state in bad shape but there have been Repub governors since 1990. Mitt also said his governorship is now beginning to bring in the new businesses and jobs. He started as governor in 1997 and his own words are that it take about 10 years for his efforts to produce noticeable results. So one could expect his results as president in 2009 to show up about 2013? Most truely successful CEOs are expected to produce results within a few
    Like many Repub governors before him, he used Mass voters as a stepping stone.
    Like many previous Repub governors, he lied and pandered in the extreme to the moderate and liberal voters to win an election. Remember his run against Ted Kennedy when he promised to be a better friend to the gay community.
    He has a successful carrer as a corporate raider and investor with many cases of significant lay-offs and outsourcing as the path to wealth. He is a better CEO than Bush II but just as commited to serving the wealthy and the powerful.

    Notice how all Repub candidates are for cutting any taxes that fall a bit more on the upper income people and on wealth, like income taxes, dividend taxes, corporate tax rates and the dreaded Death Tax. Yet it is that side of revenue that has been in deficit for the past 20+ years. The nice flat payroll SSI tax has been in surplus for those same 20+ years yet is never included in such tax cut discussions. Also notice that most state and local taxes are already flat so that the Repubs invest 100% of their tax cutting attention on only a small part of the overall tax picture.
    According to the time spent on tax cut talk, the Repubs would place the Paris Hiltons as the most needy of relief from oppressive policies and conditions.
    And our dear, fromer governor, Willard Mitt Romney, would fall right into that same camp. After all, he compared the campaign efforts his sons were making by traveling around Iowa in an RV to be serving the country on a par with service men and women in Irag and Afghanistan. But it is OK for Repubs and their familes to be Chicken hawks, supporting war for others to fight. Mitt really suffered during Vietnam with his church service in France. And, by Repub rules, significant time spent in France years ago disqualifies anyone from being President today.

    I am a Dem but I can admire McCain while having contempt for most of the Repubs with Mitt and Rudi among the worst.
    JimK

  • The question is: Who among Republican Presidential Candidates is most adept at shameless pandering?

  • Interesting that a Democrat can admire McCain… of course you can! He’d be the perfect patsy for Hilary. A non-conservative Bob Dole.

  • I’m not very concerned when Democrats say they don’t like my candidate. I’m actually rather encouraged.

  • Mitt Romney changed one position once years ago. McCain and the others change positions constantly and recently. AKA the 11 minute pro/anti gay marriage McFlip.

  • For conservatives with long memories, John McCain is about the worst possible Republican presidential nominee – unless, of course, anyone still thinks Mike Huckabee actually has a shot at the brass ring, or you like seeing the GOP split asunder. And the reason why can perhaps best be summed up in two words: McCain-Feingold.

    Sen. McCain’s campaign finance reform bill – which he pushed relentlessly, almost to the exclusion of everything else – was a frontal attack on the right of free speech. Not commercial or pornographic free speech, mind you. Political free speech. The kind of speech the Founders clearly had in mind when they emphatically declared that Congress shall make no law abridging.

    Republicans better be careful who they vote for. They just might get him. And by extension…HER.

  • “Florida voters got their fnal head-to-head look at the Republican presidential candidates tonight, and the winner of the debate was Mitt Romney.” (Ed Morrissey, “Florida Debate: Romney Scores, Rudy Close Behind,”

  • Mitt Romney changed one position once years ago.

    Which one was that?

    gay rights? (civil unions and DADT)
    abortion rights?
    health care mandates?
    gun control?

  • Captain’s Quarters’ Ed Morrissey: “Florida voters got their fnal head-to-head look at the Republican presidential candidates tonight, and the winner of the debate was Mitt Romney.” (Ed Morrissey, “Florida Debate: Romney Scores, Rudy Close Behind,”

  • money is not speech.
    money is money.
    i am not engaging in First Amendment activity when I buy toothpaste.
    you are not engaging in First Amendment acticity when you try to buy a politician.

  • The answer is B. Abortion. He was originally effectively Pro-Choice, now he is definitively Pro-Life.

    As for the other 3 that you’re trying to lay on him, he did not change his position. :You and others are simply spinning and distorting his views.

    As I said before the other guys have flipped much more often and much more recently on many more issues. But if you’re only focused on tearing one good man down, you’ll never see the huge holes in your own candidates resume.

  • I’m not an apologist for Romney. He has his flaws and my loyalty to him extends only so far as he happens to be the best person to lead America. If another candidate were to demonstrate superiority, I’d leave Romney in a heartbeat. Despite my fickle, unloyal nature, I’ve taken the time to look at the candidates and their records and when one gets the full story rather than the hyperbole, Romney comes out above all the candidates in both parties by a huge margin.

  • So you’re not engaging in First Amendment Activity when you buy toothpaste eh? What the heck does that mean anyway? And what does it have to do with anything? Are you drinking Zeitgeist?

  • John McCain is Bob Dole minus the charm, conservatism and youth. Like McCain, pollsters assured us that Dole was the most “electable” Republican. Unlike McCain, Dole didn’t lie all the time while claiming to engage in Straight Talk.

    Of course, I might lie constantly too, if I were seeking the Republican presidential nomination after enthusiastically promoting amnesty for illegal aliens, Social Security credit for illegal aliens, criminal trials for terrorists, stem-cell research on human embryos, crackpot global warming legislation and free speech-crushing campaign-finance laws.

    I might lie too, if I had opposed the Bush tax cuts, a marriage amendment to the Constitution, waterboarding terrorists and drilling in Alaska.

  • So lets get’s this straight about Bush.

    Somehow his ear piece was sophisticated enough to be hidden from EVERY SINGLE PERSON AT THE EVENT AND ALL HOME VIEWERS, no photos of such a thing ever appear anywhere.

    Yet the rest of his “answer feeder” is visible through 2 layers of clothing. Sure, maybe there was a sale on 1978 Radio Shack parts.

    I’m goin with weird shirt fold.

  • What conspiracy???No one said anything about a conspiracy. WTF. Only thing said was that you could hear a whisper saying “he raised taxes”. Problems with a mike would have nothing to do with overhearing a whisper. It might have been being said to someone else and the mike picked it up but no matter what how is any of this a conspiracy even if someone said it to Mitt. People starting off their comments with “okay all you conspiracy nuts”…what conspiracy. The only way it could be a conspiracy is if Hillary was involved.

  • This is really interesting. When Steve had a post critical of Ron Paul, we got to meet the Paulbots, and now we get to meet the Romney folks.

    It seems to me that the Paulbots were more compulsive, but at least had some reasoning behind their position. The Romney fans just love him — for his pretty face, I guess — because they don’t give reasons that make sense in any sensible context.

    When there was a post about Gouliani, nobody came to his defense.

    McCain seems to get few apologists, but we need to have a real stinker about St. John to really find out.

    Of course, this could just be because of where they came from. Captain Ed’s clientele are are pretty easily distinguished, with practice.

  • As long as we seem to have a few Romney fans here, has he come out with his economic stimulus package yet? The one he promised last week. Also what is his plan for bringing back jobs to Michigan? Does his record with Bain Capital or Bain & Co. reflect those results? Thanks.

  • Flip, or no flip, anybody who wishes we’d build more Gitmos is a sick soul. SICK! Just play his own words back, nuf’ said. ‘I think President Bush’s done a fine job……’ rolf Romney.

  • As someone who believes that Lord Romney is the greatest human being who has ever walked the earth, I can assure you that there is nothing to this so-called conspiracy. The whisper came from God. It’s that simple. And he wasn’t whispering that to help His Highness. He did it to jog our memories, in case we had forgotten Reagan’s only mistake: Trusting liberal Democrats.

  • If you listen to the tape more carefully and on high volume, you can actually hear a SECOND piece of the whisper right as Romney begins to respond. So the full whisper is, “He raised taxes. I’m not–”, and then Romney says “I’m not going to raise taxes.” This additional evidence seems to preclude any possibility that the whisper came from Brian Williams or another neutral member of the audience or film crew. There are also other moments during the debate when a faint whispering can be heard, although the words are inaudible. Furthermore, the sheer fact that Romney’s language directly mirrored the whisper indicates that it was likely a prompt, and that he must have been listening closely.

    The idea that the whisper came from the audience makes very little sense. MSNBC is now (in their 2nd or 3rd different explanation) saying that the whisper was on the same channel as Romney’s mike. Was it then picked up from the audience only on Romney’s mike, and not on any of the other candidates’ mikes? That would have to be a very skilled whisperer.

  • The whisper was accidental and unintentional. Romney had nothing to do with it. Stop with the conspiracy theories. It could have happened to any of the candidates.

  • Why did Romney edit it out of his Youtube video??

    If open mike, then why only one channel of audio????

  • Personally, I don’t find it hard to believe that he was being prompted…but then again, I don’t find it difficult to believe that several of the candidates are prompted (Democrat or Republican) and this one just slipped through.

    What this really comes down to is whether you believe it is more likely that someone from the audience whispered loudly enough to be picked up by a mic on stage or that a mic picked up something coming from on stage (eg: a voice prompt).

    But it does seem clear to me that Romney’s answer to the question almost exactly mirrors the whisper. Could this be coincidence? Sure. But is that likely? I doubt it.

  • “With so much of his own cash invested, do you think he’d risk it all on a wire? ”

    That’s exactly why he WOULD cheat to win. Otherwise it’d be spent in vain.

    Even the candidates themselves should have to follow political donation laws. Even for their own campaign.

    Spending HOW many millions of his own money for a $400,000 a year job? He’s got some serious ulterior motives.

    “He’s got every dollar he has riding on the game, why would he try to bribe the ref?”

  • Jake,

    You can hear the whisper on the clips on Romney’s website…can’t speak to youtube.

  • MSNBC is no friend to conservatives, especially the frontrunner of the primaries. If Mitt was being fed answers they would not be defending him, they’d be going for the jugular to take him down.

  • You got one thing right. Romneys not doing this for the $400,000 paycheck. But then who is? Obviously the presidential paycheck has very little to do with the motivations of any of these candidates. So doesn’t that mean they ALL have ulterior motives?

    Bagging on someone because they have money is a silly tactic. For one thing, the democrats are spending more money than Romney.

    For another thing, Romney has more money from CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS than the other candidates. That means MOST of his money comes from his SUPPORTERS. He also has the largest number of INDIVIDUAL CONTRIBUTORS, meaning he has the most broad-based support.

    The fact that he personally has money is a GOOD thing. It shows that he knows how to be successful in life and in the private sector. While at Bain he made a lot of money for many people. Did they have to cut some jobs? Yes. But they created THOUSANDS more jobs than they had to eliminate.

    The fact that he has contributed to his own campaign is a GOOD thing. As mentioned above, most of his campaign funds come from contributors, but he did contribute a large amount of personal funds. He is personally invested and is not indebted to any special interest group.

    The fact that he HAD TO SPEND MONEY to get name recognition while everyone else had free media promotion is too bad, but it is the way it is. The liberal media doesn’t like him and will take every chance to criticize him and buoy up his rivals. To combat all of this takes money.

    Romney’s not the perfect candidate. He’s just much better than anyone else left in the race. The very fact that the media endorses his rivals while criticizing him should be proof positive of that fact.

  • Boy, I bet McCain sure wish he had somebody whispering the answer to Ron Paul’s question on the National Market Commitee.

    It was painfully obvious that McCain had no clue what Ron Paul was talking about. It really highlighted McCain’s own admitted ignorance of the American economy.

  • Yeah, check out this hilarious Youtube on McCainomics:

    Do a search for: John McCain and Miss Teen USA South Carolina

  • That voice heard whispering is none other than Mitt’s. Now the MSM needs to admit for a FACT that all of the candidates are provided with the questions IN ADVANCE.

    Clearly he was provided the questions in advance, and this was his own prepared reminder – played back to him when he wanted to hear it.

    Mitt likely had a wireless ear piece and a transmitting device in his hand that he alone could activate – which contained prerecorded brief prompts to get him heading in the right direction with his answers. His own wireless microphone channel (on the podium) picked up the signal that was transmitted from his recorded answer to his ear piece as a digital audio signal and it played through the house speakers and on television.

    That whispered voice IS Mitt Romney.

  • The only notable presidents who were not very wealthy before office were Andrew Jackson and Lyndon Johnson.

  • “My God,” he whispered. He blinked rapidly and turned his face away. “I…don’t understand. It never occurred to me that I might be stealing someone else’s idea.”

    ~ George C. Chesbro, Shadow of a Broken Man

  • I think an official answer has already been given to this question. They said that a man from the audience made the comment and it was picked up by the moderator’s microphone. To blame Romney for it is beyond ridiculous.

  • He raised taxes… I’m not…

    You absolutely can hear the whisper say “I’m not…”

    The “He” is very faint and the two words “raised taxes” stick way out and grab the most attention, but just before Romney speaks you can clearly hear the whisper start again. If you listen a little closer you can tell the words are “I’m not-”

    Romney interrupts the whisper and says “I’m not going to raise taxes.” Clearly following the lead of the whisper.

    Don’t believe me? Don’t take my word for it. Listen to it yourself.

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