I've never realized how closely Martin Short's David Steinberg resembles the facial contortions and self-important manner of the equally insufferable Peggy Noonan.

Tags for this video have been changed from 'palin, conservatives, huntsman, mccain, msnbc' to 'mike murphy, peggy noonan, chuck todd, sarah palin, open mic, huntsman, mccain, msnbc' - edited by my15minutes

Peggy Noonan has since tried to explain that her 'its over' comment is being misinterpreted... that she was referring to the Republican campaign policies that the clip begins talking about as being dated and 'over'. Having re-watched the clip I actually believe her; she jumps in with that comment right when they're talking about McCain trying to run 'Texas-style' politics.


An excerpt of her clarification;

"In our off-air conversation, I got on the subject of the leaders of the Republican party assuming, now, that whatever the base of the Republican party thinks is what America thinks. I made the case that this is no longer true, that party leaders seem to me stuck in the assumptions of 1988 and 1994, the assumptions that reigned when they were young and coming up. "The first lesson they learned is the one they remember," I said to Todd -- and I'm pretty certain that is a direct quote. But, I argued, that's over, those assumptions are yesterday, the party can no longer assume that its base is utterly in line with the thinking of the American people. And when I said, "It's over!" -- and I said it more than once -- that is what I was referring to. "

http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/politics/blog/2008/09/palin_means_its_over_peggy_noo.html

i know a lot of you wouldn't have heard of her before, so i thought i'd mention this much.

peggy noonan isn't some neocon hack pundit, that would otherwise be towing the party line about what a flawless choice palin is.

she's a great speechwriter, and i think you'll find her op-ed pieces surprisingly candid, and insightful, whether or not you share her opinion.

http://www.peggynoonan.com/archive.php?archive=2

Preface: Mike Murphy - Friend of Jon Mccain and former adviser to the campaign.
Peggy Noonan - Primary Reagan speechwriter.

Transcript:

Chuck Todd: Mike Murphy, lots of free advice, we'll see if Steve Schmidt and the boys were watching. We'll find out on your blackberry. Tonight voters will get their chance to hear from Sarah Palin and she will get the chance to show voters she's the right woman for the job Up next, one man who's already convinced and he'll us why Gov. Jon Huntsman. (cut away)

Peggy Noonan: Yeah.

Mike Murphy: You know, because I come out of the blue swing state governor world: Engler, Whitman, Tommy Thompson, Mitt Romney, Jeb Bush. I mean, these guys -- this is how you win a Texas race, just run it up. And it's not gonna work. And --

PN: It's over.

MM: Still McCain can give a version of the Lieberman speech to do himself some good.

CT: I also think the Palin pick is insulting to Kay Bailey Hutchinson, too.

PN: Saw Kay this morning.

CT: Yeah, she's never looked comfortable about this --

MM: They're all bummed out.

CT: Yeah, I mean is she really the most qualified woman they could have turned to?

PN: The most qualified? No! I think they went for this -- excuse me-- political bullshit about narratives --

CT: Yeah they went to a narrative.

MM: I totally agree.

PN: Every time the Republicans do that, because that's not where they live and it's not what they're good at, they blow it.

MM: You know what' sreally the worst thing about it? The greatness of McCain is no cynicism, and this is cynical.

CT: This is cynical, and as you called it, gimmicky.

MM: Yeah.
(scripted by TPM)