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Palin Web Ad Cites Thumbs Up From 'Famous Person'

By Garance Franke-Ruta and Krissah Williams Thompson
Is the McCain campaign still nursing a grudge against Peggy Noonan?

This morning on news sites, the McCain campaign appeared to be in need of a copy editor when it attributed a positive review of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's debate performance last night to a "Famous Person."

The ad -- viewable here -- couples a photo of a smiling Palin with the quote: "She killed. It was her evening. She was the star. -- Famous Person (10/2/08)"

Now, there was one famous person who actually did say that about the GOP vice presidential candidate, though it's not clear from the campaign's ad: Wall Street Journal columnist Peggy Noonan. Who also previously has ripped into Palin's selection as the vice presidential nominee.

"She killed. It was her evening. She was the star," said Noonan last night on NBC, according to a round-up of debate reactions posted online by the McCain campaign this morning.
"Is she not a famous person?" asked McCain campaign blogger Michael Goldfarb, queried about the ad. Given an assent that Noonan is, indeed, famous (or, at least, famous in political circles), he continued, "OK, so what's the problem?"

"If there's no factual inaccuracy, I don't know what the problem is," he added.

Still, someone must have seen the potential for confusion, especially in light of the microcontroversy that broke out when the McCain campaign prematurely declared victory in the Arizona senator's debate with Barack Obama in a pre-debate Web ad released late last month.

A later version of the Palin ad replaced the "Famous Person" attribution with Noonan's name.