There's two things about the "debate suit bulge" that I was fairly confident of: that it really was some kind of device and not bad tailoring or a bulletproof vest, and that it was not a radio receiver to allow someone to prompt him.
The radio receiver theory never made sense to me because if he wanted to be wired, he would have used one of the commonly available receivers that are so tiny as to be essentially invisible (in-ear, bone conductor, whatever). Also, even Bush would have done better in the debate with a little coaching.
Here's a theory, however, that actually makes sense. It not only explains the bulge in a reasonable way, but also explains other Bush mysteries such as the decline of his verbal performance and increased klutziness.
"America was never innocent. We popped our cherry on the boat over and looked back with no regrets. You can't ascribe our fall from grace to any single event or set of circumstances. You can't lose what you lacked at conception.
"Mass-market nostalgia gets you hopped up for a past that never existed. Hagiography sanctifies shuck-and-jive politicians and reinvents their expedient gestures as moments of great moral weight. Our continuing narrative line is blurred past truth and hindsight. Only a reckless verisimilitude can set that line straight."
--James Ellroy, American Tabloid
Ensure a Free and Fair Election (Ban Paperless Voting Machines
"The basic tool for the manipulation of reality is the manipulation of words. If you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use the words."