I don't want to get started on what I find infuriating about Chuck Todd, but I do want to point out what he pretends to forget about McAuliffe's margin of victory and what also runs contrary to the right-wing spin that the margin was cut by Cuccinelli's surge at the end. Republicans love the sound of the word "surge," don't they.
Is it just me or has everyone suddenly forgotten that as Attorney General, Cucinelli had some distinct advantages, such as his ordered purges? The last purge notice was sent out about one month before the election. There were 38,000 names on that one list alone, and there were three or four earlier ones. That's a lot of purging.
Peek beyond the squiggle, please.
Local registrators warned Cucinelli - and anyone that would listen - that they could not facilitate a reliable purge without more time. Attorney General Cucinelli insisted the purge begin immediately. To allay their fears, the registrars decided to spot-check the names assigned to their jurisdiction. They found the error rate to be unacceptably high. They again asked Cucinelli to rescind his order. He demanded that they perform that last purge (now no more than three weeks before the election) as previously directed.
Some of the registrars just dug in and refused, knowing that legitimate voters would be disenfranchised. One particular registrar was interviewed on the teevee several times because she revealed that the majority of the names on the purge lists were those of Democrats and people of color. Had those purges - intended to pad the results for Cucinelli - not taken place, how large would McAuliffe's margin have been? that could make a nice research project.
By the way, does anyone else remember when Chuck Todd was co-editor of Hotline on Call, part of the National Journal, before he got his gig at NBC? I'm just saying . . .