Text size:

Noonan, Murphy trash Palin pick over open mikes

September 4, 2008

Two GOP icons - former Reagan speechwriter Peggy Noonan and former McCain strategist Mike Murphy - were caught trashing vice-presidential pick Sarah Palin yesterday when they kept talking after they thought the audio was off during an interview on NBC, and a YouTube version of their off-off-message exchange rocketed around the Internet at light speed.

Noonan, who had praised Palin in a Wall Street Journal column in the morning, said, "It's over," and added, "Most qualified? No. I think they went for this, excuse me, political bull -- about narratives ... Every time Republicans do this, because that's not where they live, and that's not what they're good at, they blow it."

After the NBC comments surfaced, Noonan updated her Journal column online, lamenting that she had been "mugged by the nature of modern media" and apologizing for her rough language. She said that her statement that "It's over" was out of context, and was not a conclusion about the likely outcome of the McCain-Obama race, and her true feelings toward Palin were favorable.