On Tuesday's MSNBC Daily Rundown, NBC senior political editor Mark Murray dismissed the notion that if Democrat Terry McAuliffe lost the closely contested Virginia governor's race, it would not be a defeat for his strongest backers, the Clintons: "I'm not sure this race is going to impact Hillary Clinton or Bill Clinton if McAuliffe wins or if he loses. Simply because if Hillary Clinton were running against Ken Cuccinelli in this contest, she would be the clear favorite, she'd be leading in the polls by 10, 15 points." [Listen to the audio or watch the video after the jump]
Murray didn't bother to cite any evidence to back up his assertion. In fact, recent electoral history would seem to contradict his claim. In Virginia's 2008 Democratic primary, Clinton only garnered 35% of vote compared to then-Senator Barack Obama's 63%.
Here is a transcript of the September 3 exchange:
9:25AM ET
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KRISTEN WELKER: And you have Hillary Clinton holding her first political event. She's turning out for an event for McAuliffe. How does that play into this race? Could it ultimately wind up hurting Clinton?
MARK MURRAY [NBC SENIOR POLITICAL EDITOR]: Well, I wouldn't go that far. Of course the Clintons are involved, you're going to have Hillary Clinton campaign, Terry McAuliffe is a very close associate of the Clintons.
But Kristen, here's the point I often make to people, I'm not sure this race is going to impact Hillary Clinton or Bill Clinton if McAuliffe wins or if he loses. Simply because if Hillary Clinton were running against Ken Cuccinelli in this contest, she would be the clear favorite, she'd be leading in the polls by 10, 15 points.
And so, I don't think that If Terry McAuliffe loses, this has any impact on her. But we are going to see her play a role, certainly fundraising, you're gonna see the Clintons campaign for Terry McAuliffe. And that's just a natural situation when someone like Terry McAuliffe is so closely tied to the Clintons.
WELKER: Alright, Mark Murray, thank you very much.
MURRAY: Thanks.
