Conegate

I think "Cone of Silence" will enter the lexicon of American political lore. There's speculation that McCain heard some of Obama's answers and was not at Saddleback in Rick Warren's "cone of silence," but actually just leaving his hotel.

Of course, this is all on the honor system, but I would be very, very, very naive to assume he or someone on his staff didn't see the broadcast and prep him in advance.

Other points:

-Rick Warren admitted that he wasn't at the church when Obama began his session

-McCain mentioned something about getting to the Supreme Court question, which suggests he knew it was coming

-McCain's answers were very quick and concise, very different than his normal style to those who have followed him. There's no doubt he performed well and wowed the audience, but he was almost answering them before Warren finished. A lot of the anecdotes and responses seemed a little canned and quick to be truly off-the-cuff.

-To be fair, Obama mentioned that he had "cheated" and thought about something beforehand, but why would he say cheat if it wasn't a joke?

I think there's a lot more to come out on this. The point isn't to complain that McCain must have obviously cheated since he did so well - the point is that Rick Warren gave us the impression that McCain would not be able to hear Obama's answers or his questions and that is now in doubt. Lame.

Yay! Commence partisan bickering!