> Funny, isn't it, that it was McCain's seeming coherence relative to all
> his other public appearances that was the clue to this dirty trick- his
> staff knew the questions already and was able to prepare his answers for
> him:

> "However, the New York Times' Kit Seelye has boldly backed up Mitchell's
> claim in today's story, "Despite Assurances, McCain Wasn't in a 'Cone of
> Silence'." Per Seelye:

> Senator John McCain was not in a "cone of silence" on Saturday night while
> his rival, Senator Barack Obama, was being interviewed at the Saddleback
> Church in California... The matter is of interest because Mr. McCain, who
> followed Mr. Obama's hourlong appearance in the forum, was asked virtually
> the same questions as Mr. Obama. Mr. McCain's performance was well
> received, raising speculation among some viewers, especially supporters of
> Mr. Obama, that he was not as isolated during the Obama interview as Mr.
> Warren implied.

> (snip)

> Mr. Warren, the pastor of Saddleback, had assured the audience while he
> was interviewing Mr. Obama that "we have safely placed Senator McCain in a
> cone of silence" and that he could not hear the questions... Interviewed
> Sunday on CNN, Mr. Warren seemed surprised to learn that Mr. McCain was
> not in the building during the Obama interview.

> This corroborates Mitchell's report, which was "McCain may not have been
> in the cone of silence" (he wasn't, at least not for the duration) and
> "may have some ability to overhear" the question (unclear, but if the
> purpose of the 'cone of silence' is to guard against that, then presumably
> being outside it might have afforded that opportunity.

> But even without Seelye, Mitchell was corroborated...by Davis. He wrote,
> "The fact is that during Senator Obama's segment at Saddleback last night,
> Senator McCain was in a motorcade to the event and then held in a green
> room with no broadcast feed." That means that he was not in the cone of
> silence during the Obama questioning, confirming Mitchell's report."