Wall Street Journal columnist Peggy Noonan realized very quickly her off-camera remarks on MSNBC — where, during a commercial break, she supposedly declared McCain's campaign "over" — would be getting her into trouble. It took just three hours before her live mic conversation during a segment break with Chuck Todd and Mike Murphy made its way to YouTube, and just a little while longer for her to pull together a half-hearted apology. Why her remarks caused a stir, she says, she "must plead some confusion." Though let us help clarify: Everyone immediately saw her for the two-faced commentator she likely is, supporting conservatives in print while bashing them behind closed doors. But that's not how it was, says Noons! And we're taking her "it's over" comment completely out of context.

Here I must plead some confusion. 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. I am pretty certain that is exactly what Todd and Murphy understood I was referring to. In the truncated version of the conversation, on the Web, it appears I am saying the McCain campaign is over. I did not say it, and do not think it. In fact, at an on-the-record press symposium on the campaign on Monday, when all of those on the panel were pressed to predict who would win, I said that I didn't know, but that we just might find "This IS a country for old men." That is, McCain may well win. I do not think the campaign is over, I do not think this is settled, and did not suggest, back to the Todd-Murphy conversation, that "It's over."

Uh huh.

She does acknowledge calling McCain's choice of Palin "political bullshit." This, she is sorry for, not because it exposes her as a clandestine lying conservative pundit, but because she used a swear word. Now let's go back to pretending Noonan is completely behind the GOP, okay?

[WSJ]