Bush's flack backs away from The Bulge

That's right -- The Bulge has gotten so ubiquitous, it now rates capitalization.

(There hasn't been this much press about the Palmdale Bulge in recent times, and that one's going to open up like the jaws of Hell one of these days.)

Andy Card, trying to avoid the Baghdad Bob tag, is diffident about it:

Another update from Salon.com

The rest of the media gathered here in St. Louis may be focused like the proverbial laser beam on the latest job numbers -- the New York Times says jobs are topic 'A, B and C' tonight -- but we're determined to get to the bottom of the Bush bulge.

The latest clarification, explanation or evasion -- depending on your perspective on all this --- comes from White House Chief of Staff Andy Card. We caught up with him in spin alley here, and we asked him whether Bush was wearing a wire at the last debate.

to believe he was wearing a listening device at all.' So what was that tell-tale lump under Bush's suit coat? 'I don't even know what you're talking about. Maybe people didn't have very good eyesight.' Was the president wearing a bullet-proof vest? 'No, he was not, not to my knowledge.' Some are speculating that he was wearing some kind of medical device, like a portable IV machine. How about that? 'Not to my knowledge.'

Card, the pro that he is, quickly spun the conversation to Bush-Cheney talking points. The president is 'a regular guy,' he said. 'Maybe his suit had a little lump in it or something. I'll tell you, he was dressed for the opportunity to talk to the American people, and I am not aware of anything that was extra-ordinary in what he was wearing.'"

I still say Kerry and Charlie Gibson should jump him on stage, pull up his jacket, pull down his pants and let the world see what he's got.