Is that a bulge in President George W. Bush's jacket -- or is he just happy to have answers during his debates and public appearances?

It's one of the questions making the rounds on the Internet these days. Aides to President George W. Bush say there's nothing to the suggestion that the president was wired to get help from off-stage advisers during his first debate with Democratic challenger John Kerry.

A rear-positioned camera glimpsed what, in replay, looked to be a rectangular lump between the President's shoulder blades and a cord traveling up to his right shoulder.

Just an incidental pucker in the fabric? Or instead could it have been a hidden receiver equipping Bush to take cues through an earpiece from someone offstage? That was the rumor zipping across the Internet, as reported by the webzine Salon.com.

But a Web site devoted to the issue said there have been suggestions that Bush has used the devices even before the first debate. Several people have written in to claim they've heard the prompting on TV news feeds.

They said an off-screen voice suggests phrases to Bush -- which he allegedly parrots back. A Bush campaign spokesman called the whole thing "not true" and "ridiculous."

The White House denied Bush had been wired.

"There was nothing under his suit jacket," Bush campaign communications director Nicolle Devenish told The New York Times.

The Times reported that the campaign first tried to say the bulge may have been doctored into a photo. But the bulge turned out to be clearly visible on TV footage of the debate. Then, the campaign offered a different reason for the bulge, the Times reported.

"It was most likely a rumpling of that portion of his suit jacket, or a wrinkle in the fabric," Devenish told the Times.

The White House has also said that Bush did not wear a bullet-proof vest during the debate.

On the Net:

Is Bush Wired? (Site may be down due to high traffic.)

Click here for the British Broadcasting Corp. report with a photo of the lump in the jacket.