Republican strategists trash McCain VP pick over open mikes

London, Sep 4 : The Republican Party's two most respected and well-known political strategists, former Reagan speechwriter Peggy Noonan and former John McCain strategist Mike Murphy, have trashed McCain's vice-presidential pick Sarah Palin.

On Wednesday, both 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.

Murphy: "It's not going to work!"

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."

Murphy: "You know what's really the worst thing about it? The greatest of McCain is no cynicism, and it is cynical."

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, The Times reported.

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.

ANI