| | |  Americas & Beyond | September 2008 
Top GOP Pundits Fault Palin Selection
 Kate Phillips - The New York Times
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| | Mike Murphy and Peggy Noonan, GOP pundits, caught talking while live mic catches candid conversation. | | |
St. Paul - Two prominent Republicans — one of them a close ally and former aide to Senator John McCain — were caught on a live mic on MSNBC bemoaning the selection of Gov. Sarah Palin and the controversy surrounding her.
Mike Murphy, who worked on Senator McCain's campaign in 2000 but declined to join this year's, citing tensions with top campaign staff members, can be heard in near-anguish talking about the fallout from her candidacy. "I come out of the blue, swing-state governor world, Engler, Whitman, Thompson, Mitt Romney, Jeb Bush" he said. But the McCain campaign just decided to run with Palin, he said, adding "it's not going to work."
Peggy Noonan, speechwriter for Ronald Reagan and columnist, interjects: "It's over."
Asked whether Ms. Palin is really the most qualified woman Mr. McCain could have picked, Ms. Noonan responds rather incredulously, "The most qualified? No. I think they went for the — excuse me — political (expletive) about narratives.... Every time the Republicans do that, because that's not where they live and that's not what they're good at, they blow it."
Mr. Murphy then dives in with a rejoinder: "The greatness of McCain is no cynicism and this is cynical."
(Hat tip to Ben Smith at The Politico for the clip.)
The McCain campaign — especially Steve Schmidt, its chief strategist, has been slamming the media for questioning whether Ms. Palin was properly vetted, and campaign surrogates from former rivals of Mr. McCain like Mitt Romney and Rudolph Giuliani have fanned out across the TV networks and cable TV to defend Ms. Palin's credentials.
But even one of Senator McCain's top campaign representatives — Meg Whitman — told Fox News today that it was perfectly fair and "the right thing to do" for the media to scrutinize Ms. Palin's background and the selection process. Just as it had for Senator Barack Obama or Mr. McCain, she added.
She also dismissed another charge being leveled by top McCain aides and Republicans who are complaining about how Ms. Palin has been treated. Asked whether sexism in the media was at play here, Ms. Whitman, said: "I wouldn't say there really has." |
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