Republican strategist Mike Murphy and Peggy Noonan of the Wall Street Journal have both been on television countless of times. You'd think by now they'd know not to talk too candidly about their party's presidential nominee when they have microphones clipped to them.
Having finished talking with MSNBC political analyst Chuck Todd, Murphy and Noonan sat idly by as Todd teased a segment featuring Gov. Jon Huntsman of Utah. A clip posted on Talking Points Memo shows an edit from Todd to downtown Minneapolis, but the three commentators can still be heard talking.
What follows is a partial transcript from TPM:
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 --
U.S. & World
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 bulls*** about narratives --
...
MM: You know what's really 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.
This of course is the second time this campaign cycle that a seasoned political veteran has been caught trashing his candidate while wearing a microphone that was still on. In July, following a segment on Fox News, Jesse Jackson leaned over to fellow guest UnitedHealth Group's Dr. Reed V. Tuckson and whispered of Barack Obama, "I want to cut his n*ts off."
