Cone of Silence? Not So Much

Despite pastor Rick Warren swearing that John McCain was in a “cone of silence” during Barack Obama’s hour-long portion of Saturday’s faith forum at the Saddleback Church in California, McCain’s staff confirms that the Arizona senator was in fact in his motorcade on the way to the forum during Obama’s portion.

Why does this matter? Because McCain and Obama were asked identical questions under the pretense that whoever went second would not hear the answer of the candidate who went first.

So does that mean McCain cheated? Spokesman Nicole Wallace tells the New York Times no.

“The insinuation from the Obama campaign that John McCain, a former prisoner of war, cheated is outrageous,” Wallace told the paper.

But McCain played along with the cone shtick during the forum.

The first question Warren asked McCain: “Was the cone of silence comfortable that you were in just now?”

“I was trying to hear through the wall,” McCain joked.