America has almost unanimously deemed Mitt Romney the winner of the first presidential debate Wednesday night, but did he beat Obama fair and square? A closer look at a video of Romney taking the stage that surfaced on Reddit late Thursday night shows the Republican candidate taking what looks like a piece of paper or some notecards out of his pocket and placing them on the podium in front of him. His campaign says it was a handkerchief. But naturally, conspiracy theories abound! Romney’s not the first politician to weather accusations of rule breaking during a debate. The Daily Beast takes a closer look at the Romney mystery and other debate cheating scandals.
—by Caitlin Dickson