'The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell' for Tuesday, November 5th, 2013

THE LAST WORD WITH LAWRENCE O`DONNELL
November 5, 2013
Guest: Hunter Walker, John Halman


LAWRENCE O`DONNELL, MSNBC HOST: It is election night in America, or
much of America, anyway.

In New Jersey, Chris Christie re-elected to a second term as governor.
We are awaiting a victory speech from Governor Christie, likely within this
hour.

In Virginia, NBC News project that Democratic Terry McAuliffe has
pulled off a narrow victory in the governor`s race. He defeated Republican
Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli. With 96 percent of the vote in, McAuliffe
has 47 percent, Ken Cuccinelli has 46 percent, and libertarian candidate
Robert Sarvis has 7 percent.

NBC News also projects that Democrat Ralph Northam is winner of the
lieutenant-governor race.

NBC News political director, Chuck Todd, is at McAuliffe election
headquarters in Tyson`s Corner, Virginia.

Chuck, how did this race find its way to a Terry McAuliffe victory and
rather narrow one?

CHUCK TODD, NBC NEWS POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Well, a rather narrow one.
I think we can be reminded that Virginia is Virginia. It`s a swing state
for a reason. As Virginia goes, so goes the nation. It`s been that way
for the last decade.

When you look at sort of the last two weeks, you can on one hand, look
at the result tonight. And say, you know what, the minute, Ken Cuccinelli
was nominated, he was going to have problems in northern Virginia, problems
in suburban counties.

I can tell you, I`m going to give you two results tonight, I know
Steve Schmidt will love this. Two results tonight for 2009, and Bob
McDonnell`s Republican history in Virginia, versus Terry McAuliffe`s
Democratic victory here.

And Henrico County, Richmond down there, a suburban county, McDonnell
won the county, 56-44. McAuliffe is going to win it 52-39. Sarvis vote
there.

Fairfax County, McDonnell actually won Fairfax County in 2009, very
narrowly, 51-49. McAuliffe has a 21-point lead in Fairfax County and not
all vote is in, 58-37.

Bottom line is that Ken Cuccinelli could not appeal to the middle of
the electorate, the suburban voters. But he came close. There is still a
very strong Republican base in Virginia. He worked the base. This is his
entire last two weeks of his campaign was about turning out the base, and
hoping that there would be a lack of enthusiasm for Terry McAuliffe at the
end of the day.

I think when you look at overall turnout. I think when you look at
the lack of money by Cuccinelli in northern Virginia, a lot of national
donors sat on their hands, believing he couldn`t win in northern Virginia.
So, therefore he couldn`t win statewide, which is a -- turning out to be
true.

But one wonders. I have heard from one Republican source. Who said,
where was Chris Christie? In fact, saying, that they made an effort,
apparently some senior conservative Republicans reached out to Christie and
asked him to come down to Virginia and campaign for Cuccinelli and Christie
said no.

So, it`s -- that sort of the way you feel like this is going to play
out, Lawrence. You`ve seen this before. Cuccinelli, it`s a lot closer
than Republicans thought. A lot of Cuccinelli supporters a little bit
bitter now looking at the result. Thinking what if? What if they had more
money? What if the rest of the Republican establishment helped them?

And, of course, some Tea Party Republicans are going to say, hey, our
message is fine. We just didn`t have enough money. Some establishment
Republicans tonight are probably quietly a little concerned, that
Cuccinelli got so close because it`s not, that means the Tea Party might
not receive the message, that the establishment and inside the Republican
Party hoped they would receive after tonight.

O`DONNELL: Chuck, if you add to Cuccinelli`s vote, the third party
vote for the libertarian, you get a majority vote for conservative, two
conservative candidates there in Virginia. If you take out the libertarian
candidate, does Cuccinelli win this race?

TODD: It`s hard to say that because in our polling. And we looked at
this very carefully, when you take them out, it really made no difference,
particularly in that first 5 percent of the Sarvis vote. It looked to us
in our polling, it was a protest vote more than anything else.

And in fact, if you talk to both campaigns, they were quietly not
sitting there saying, Sarvis is hurting. Cuccinelli`s campaign never said
that either. I think there is one specific area of the state where, Sarvis
did hurt Cuccinelli, was in Coal Country, top west part of the state. It
had to do with the specific issue that folks down there didn`t like. The
attorney general`s office dealt with.

They are never going to vote for McAuliffe. So, Sarvis is a protest
vote. But there is evidence of protest votes in northern Virginia, too,
about folks that weren`t thrilled with Terry McAuliffe on the Democratic
side.

I have not seen the evidence. I have looked at a lot of the polling.
I don`t think that you can make that case.

O`DONNELL: NBC`s Chuck Todd. Thanks for joining us on this election
night, Chuck.

TODD: You go it, Lawrence.

O`DONNELL: Joining me now, MSNBC`s Krystal Ball, a former Virginia
congressional candidate herself. MSNBC analyst, Steve Schmidt, senior
advisor to the McCain `08 presidential campaign, MSNBC analyst, John
Heilemann, national affairs editor for "New York" magazine, and, of course,
the author of a book you might have heard of, "Double Down", which is just
everywhere. He`s also an MSNBC analyst. MSNBC analyst, David Axelrod,
joining us, former senior adviser to President Obama.

Steve, what is your read of the Virginia outcome?

STEVE SCHMIDT, MSNBC POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, look, I think everybody
who works in politics thought this race was going to be a blowout. It was
going to be called the moment the polls closed, that turned out not to be
the case.

But what remains true about this race -- had it not been for the
decision to pick the nominee at a convention, if Republicans had an
inclusive process, let voters determine it. It almost certainly would have
resulted in a nominee who would have been the governor-elect of Virginia as
we sit here at this hour.

And the bottom line is -- the wrong message will be received by the
Tea Party in the sense that it will once again be a conspiracy on the part
of the establishment, where they have been screwed and wronged and, it`s
not the fact that this was a person fundamentally out of step ideologically
in a state that Republicans could win.

I do think it is true that when you look at the depth of terry
McAuliffe`s difficulties, and his flaws as a candidate. And you look at
the spending patterns over the last week, had there been an investment of
money, Cuccinelli may have been able to pick them off at the end.

And I think if you`re a Democrat tonight, you have to look at this in
the context of the difficulties with the Obamacare rollout which had been a
dominant story, supplanting the government shutdown story, and I think it`s
difficult to tell definitively if that`s had an impact at all on the race.
But I guess it`s one of the things that will drive a lot of conjecture, a
lot of discussion, and we continue to see a trend, where I think there`s a
lot of volatility in the political marketplace, and a lot of downward
pressure on the president, the Democrats and Republicans.

O`DONNELL: David Axelrod, should Democrats score Virginia as a win or
-- was it just something that the Republican kicked away?

DAVID AXELROD, MSNBC POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, you have the Democrat
sitting in the governor`s mansion. And where I come from that is a win.
And, we`ll take it.

Look, it`s the first time in decades and decades that Virginia has
actually elected a governor of the same party as the president. Certainly,
I agree with what Steve said that if the Republican Party had nominated a
different candidate, perhaps they would have had a greater chance here.
But that is the essence with the Republican Party right now.

You have Chris Christie up in New Jersey who, who tried to build a
broader coalition and had a good night. And then you had the Republicans
in Virginia, who ran a narrow ideological campaign, and they lost.

And so that the lesson should be clear, I agree with Steve, I am not
sure that people will draw the right lesson from it.

O`DONNELL: Krystal Ball, exit polls on women: 50 percent for
McAuliffe in Virginia, 42 percent for Cuccinelli.

KRYSTAL BALL, THE CYCLE: Yes, women are key to the victory here. I
think the suburbs as Chuck Todd was pointing out.

And one thing that was remarkable in the polls too, that 20 percent of
voters said that abortion was their number one issue in this race. So,
obviously, Cuccinelli is very far right extreme views on abortion were of
concern here.

But you have to think about, to Steve`s point, what Republicans were
handed in this race. I mean, they had historical trends going for them,
because Virginians like to hand the governor`s mansion to the party that is
out of power in the White House. They have done so since 1973. They have
off-year demographic election trend going for them. In off-years, it is
not the coalition of the ascendant by and large that shows up to vote. It
tends to be more Republican leaning electorate.

And they also had in Terry McAuliffe, you know, a relatively weak
candidate, that they certainly could have picked off. They had on the
Republican side, Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling, who is a much more
moderate, much more mainstream candidate. If they elected him, if they had
nominated him, I think there is a very good chance that he would have won
the governorship.

So, the Tea Party Republicans need to realize they were handed all of
these advantages going into this election, and they managed to squander
them all by choosing some one who was fundamentally out of step with the
Virginia electorate.

O`DONNELL: John Heilemann, on the Virginia race, should the Democrats
be taking a lot of encouragement out of this race. I mean, here`s Krystal
saying, look, if they had just nominated -- the Republicans just nominated
the right guy, the Republicans would have won.

JOHN HEILEMANN, AUTHOR, "DOUBLE DOWN": If I`ve were a Democrat, I
would not be taking a lot of encouragement out of this race. Look, you`ve
got Ken Cuccinelli who, as bad as a candidate as Terry McAuliffe was.

O`DONNELL: Oh, YES.

HEILEMANN: Ken Cuccinelli, as every has said here, fundamentally out
of step with a lot of the state, a horrible candidate. But, he was --
still, what these results show tonight is that --

BALL: He was better than the lieutenant governor candidate, we could
say.

HEILEMANN: He got outspent 4-1 in the race.

O`DONNELL: Yes.

HEILEMANN: If there had been late spending for Cuccinelli, or if
there hadn`t been a government shutdown, which is not Ken Cuccinelli`s
fault, if there hadn`t been, you think of the northern Virginia vote, where
there are a huge number of government --

O`DONNELL: Chris Christie`s take. Keep talking.

HEILEMANN: -- huge number of government workers in northern Virginia.
Terry McAuliffe found his margin of victory. If it hadn`t been for the
shutdown, Ken Cuccinelli may have won the race also.

For all of these problems, a little bit more money, and a little bit
less government shutdown, you might be looking at Ken Cuccinelli as bad as
he was, as out of step with so much of Virginia, he probably be in the
statehouse.

O`DONNELL: The first speech of the Christie for president campaign is
about to occur in New Jersey. We will go to it, obviously, when he begins.

Steve Schmidt, what does this mean for Chris Christie tonight?

SCHMIDT: Well, it`s a huge night for Chris Christie. It`s a historic
victory. You look at the Republican Party, there`s two models. There`s an
expanding model, there`s a contracting model.

Chris Christie represents the gubernatorial wing of the party,
believing in expanding model. You look at the numbers with Hispanics, with
women voters, with African-American voters that have turn out, it`s a
conservative governor. So, pro-life governor. This resounding mandate
delivered from one of the bluest states in the country.

And this does offer a template to a party that is in very deep trouble
nationally.

O`DONNELL: He is using a Stevie Wonder song at his event instead of a
Bruce Springsteen, the first surprise of the night.

GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), NEW JERSEY: How about this, New Jersey?

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

Ladies and gentlemen, tonight -- tonight, I stand here as your
governor, and I am so proud to be your governor.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

Born in Newark, raised in Livingston, made my wife from Pennsylvania a
real Jersey girl, and raised our family right here, right here in this
amazing state. I love just as much as my mother and father raised me to
love it.

You see, what people have never understood about us is that I need the
introduction to all of you. I know you because I`m one of you.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

So, tonight, first and foremost, I want to say thank you, New Jersey,
for making me the luckiest guy in the world.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

And the only greatest honor and privilege thing being a one-term
governor of New Jersey is to be a two-term governor of New Jersey.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

You got to meet my kids again tonight. Mary Pat and I are so proud of
them. Andrew, Sarah, Patrick and Bridget, I love you all.

And over the last four years but especially this year, New Jersey got
to know what a special first lady they have. I love you, Mary Pat.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

I spoke to Senator Buono awhile ago. She -- no, no -- she
congratulated me. She was very gracious, very gracious in her
congratulations. And I thank her for a spirited campaign and for her 20
years of public service to the state.

(APPLAUSE)

Now, we came to office four years ago. We stood behind a podium like
this and said that people were tired of politics as usual. They wanted to
get things done. And we promised we were going to go to Trenton and turn
it upside down. And I think we`ve done just that.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

The people of New Jersey four years ago were downhearted and
dispirited. They didn`t believe that government could work for them
anymore. In fact, what they thought -- what they thought was that
government was just there to take from them but not to give to them. Not
to work with them. Not to work for them.

Well, four years later, we stand here tonight showing thought is
possible to put doing your job first, to put working together first, to
fight for what you believe in yet still stand by your principles and get
something done for the people who elected you.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

The biggest thing, the biggest thing I`ve learned over the last four
years about leadership is that leadership is much less about talking than
it is about listening, about bringing people around the table, listening to
each other, showing them respect, doing what needed to be done to be able
to bring people together and to achieve what we needed to achieve to move
our state forward.

Now, listen, I know that if we can do this in Trenton, New Jersey,
maybe the folks in Washington, D.C. should tune in their TVs right now, see
how it`s done.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

See, we -- listen. We`re New Jersey. We still fight. We still yell.
But when we fight, we fight for those things that really matter in people`s
lives.

And while we may not always agree, we show up. We show up every
where. We don`t show up just in the places that vote for us a lot, we show
up in the place that is vote for us a little. We don`t just show up in the
places where we`re comfortable, we show up in the places where we`re
uncomfortable.

Because when you lead, you need to be there. You need to show up.
You need to listen. And then you need to act.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

And you don`t just show up six months before an election. You show up
four years before one. And you don`t just take no for an answer the first
time no has happened. You keep going back and trying more.

Because when I was elected four years ago, I wasn`t elected just by
the people who voted for me. I was the governor of all the people.

And tonight, overwhelmingly those people have said, come onboard, it`s
fine here. Let`s have more people support the governor. And now, we have
a big, big win tonight.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

What people have told me over the last four years is more than
anything else, they want the truth. They want the truth.

You know, we don`t always agree with each other, New Jersey. Some
folks don`t agree with some of the things do I, and certainly they don`t
agree with some of the things I say sometimes.

(LAUGHTER)

But they know -- they know they never have to wonder. They never have
to wonder.

When they walked into the voting booth today, they didn`t say hey, I
wonder who this guy is and what he stands for, what he`s willing to fight
for, what he`s willing to do when the chips are down.

You can agree with me or you can disagree with me. But I will never
stop leading the state I love.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

People across the country have asked me how it is we`ve been able to
do what we`ve achieved. And I`m reminded of a story that Pastor Joe Carter
of the New Hope Baptist Church told just one week ago today, on the one-
year anniversary of Hurricane Sandy. He called what had happened in New
Jersey the last year the spirit of Sandy. He spoke about people coming
together.

He said, "When the lights went out, no one cared what color your skin
was." He said, "When you didn`t have any food, no one cared whether it was
a Republican or a Democrat offering you the food. When you didn`t have a
warm place for your family because of what happened in the storm, you
didn`t care if it was someone who thought that government should be big or
small. At that moment the spirit of sandy infected all of us."

Reverend Carter was right. And he prayed that day that the spirit of
Sandy would stay with us well beyond the days that the recovery will take.

My pledge to you tonight is I will govern with the spirit of Sandy.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

It`s true of New Jersey and all the people who live here, they`re
ready to live that way, too. As you governor, it`s never mattered to me
where someone is from, whether they voted for me or not, what the color of
their skin was or their political party.

For me, being governor has always been about getting the job done
first. Now, that doesn`t mean that we don`t have principles. We have many
of them. And we have stood and fight -- fought every day to cut taxes, to
reduce the size of government spending, to reform pensions and benefits, to
reform a broken education system and to make sure that we create
opportunity again for New Jerseyans.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

And for the next four years, for the next four years, we will fight to
make those changes permanent, and we will fight to make them bigger. I did
not seek a second term to do small things. I sought a second term to
finish the job. Now, watch me do it.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

I want to thank a few people in addition to my family before we go
tonight. I want to tell you that I over the last year have had the
greatest campaign team any governor could ever ask for. They ran a
flawless campaign. And I thank them for it.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

And I want to thank my cabinet and my senior staff, who especially
over the last year have worked tirelessly with me to help bring back --
bring back the great state of New Jersey from the second worst national
disaster to ever hit this country.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

And I want to thank the second woman who said yes to me when I asked.

(LAUGHTER)

New Jersey`s great lieutenant governor, Lieutenant Governor Kim
Guadagno.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

I used to tell folks all the time that I had the greatest job in the
world, that for a Jersey kid to be elected governor of the state where you
were born and raised is the greatest job that you could ever have in your
life. And I loved it.

Every day, I would get up and know that I had a chance to do something
great. I didn`t do something great every day. But I had a chance every
day to do something great for people that I would probably never meet and
certainly never know.

But on October 29th of last year, that job changed. It`s no longer a
job for me. It`s a mission.

You see, a mission is different than a job. A mission is something
that`s sacred. It`s a sacred trust that was thrust upon me and you on
October 29th of last year.

And that mission, that mission is to make sure that everyone, everyone
in New Jersey who`s affected by Sandy is returned to normalcy in their
life.

And I want to promise you tonight, I will not let anyone, anything,
any political party, any governmental entity, or any force get in between
me and the completion of my mission.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

You see, for those veterans out there tonight, you know -- you know
how sacred a mission is. Sacredness of the mission of a soldier is that no
one ever is left behind. No one is ever left behind on the battlefield.
And on the battlefield that Sandy turned this state into, New Jerseyans
will never leave any New Jerseyan behind.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

I`m resolved to complete this mission, not because of me but because
of you. For the last year, I`ve had a lot of people ask me for hugs. A
lot of people.

AUDIENCE MEMBER: (INAUDIBLE)

CHRISTIE: You`ll get your hug later, brother. And I can tell you
this. I guess there is open bar tonight, huh?

(LAUGHTER)

Welcome to New Jersey.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

People ask me for hugs to comfort them. People asked me for hugs to
make sure I wouldn`t forget them. People asked me for hugs just to know
that the leader of this state cared about them. And people came up to me
all the time in the aftermath and said to me, "Governor, where did you get
the energy? Where did you get the energy day after day after day to do
that?" And I told them, "You don`t understand, do you? Those hugs gave
more to me than I could ever give back to them. They gave me hope and
faith and optimism for our future."

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

The people of New Jersey have given me much more than I could ever
hope to give back to them. They`ve given me hope, they`ve given me faith,
and they`ve given me the trust. And it`s with that hope, with that
optimism, that faith and that trust that we together confront the next four
years of opportunity for our state.

I know that tonight a dispirited America, angry with their
dysfunctional government in Washington --

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

Looks to New Jersey to say, is what I think happening really
happening? Are people really coming together? Are we really working,
African-Americans and Hispanics, suburbanites and city dwellers, farmers
and teachers? Are we really all working together?

Let me give the answer to everyone who is watching tonight. Under
this government, our first job is to get the job done. And as long as I`m
governor, that job will always, always be finished.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

I think tonight most particularly -- and I know my dad and my brother
and sister who are here tonight with me share this same view. I think
tonight most particularly about my mother. All of you who have heard me
over the last four years know that she was and still is the dominant
influence in my life. As I said on the video --

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

As I said on the video, my mom used to say to me all the time,
"Christopher, be yourself, because then tomorrow you don`t have to worry
about trying to remember who you pretended to be yesterday." Powerful
words from a woman who I miss every day.

But tonight, tonight, I know that my mom is looking down on New Jersey
and saying to me -- I can feel it -- she`s saying to me, Chris, the job`s
not done yet. Get back to work and finish the job for the people of New
Jersey.

That`s exactly what I`ll do. I love you, New Jersey. Thank you very
much!

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

O`DONNELL: Steve Schmidt, how did that speech sound to Republican
presidential primary voters?

STEVE SCHMIDT, FORMER SENIOR STRATEGIST FROM MCCAIN/PALIN 2008
CAMPAIGN: Look, I think you see all the promise and all the peril of Chris
Christie in that speech. You see the rough diamond. You see all the
political talent on display. You see a little bit over self-referential.
You know, there that I am not sure that, you know, that plays out. You see
the necessity for world class speech writing. As you make the transition
into a presidential campaign.

Bit certainly if you look at, you know, him through the prism of
what`s going on in Washington, you know, the Republican leaders on the
national stage, you look at that speech, you look at his dynamism with a
lot of enthusiasm and a lot of optimism.

O`DONNELL: David Axelrod, exit poll show in New Jersey of the voters
who elected Chris Christie tonight. If he faces Hillary Clinton on a
presidential ballot in New Jersey, Hillary Clinton would get 50 percent of
the vote. Chris Christie would get 43 percent of the vote. And so,
Democrats may have to contend with Chris Christie down the road on the
presidential stage. But at the moment, the polling is stronger for Hillary
Clinton.

DAVID AXELROD, MSNBC/NBC NEWS POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I think she is
a very strong candidate. But look, I think he could be a very strong
general election candidate too. The question is whether he get there?
Whether the Republican Party will nominate a candidate who gives the kind
of speech he gave tonight. That speech more broadly than to the base.

One thing that was striking about the Virginia race is that Terry
McAuliffe won self described moderates by 20 percent of the vote. And the
Republican Party lost moderates by some 12 percent of the vote, 14 percent
of the vote in the 2012 election. Christie is speaking to those people in
the middle of the electorate here. But, can he keep speaking those people
to the middle of the electorate and win the hearts of those base voters
that Ken Cuccinelli voter would dominate the Republican nominating process.
That`s what we have to wait and see.

O`DONNELL: We are joined by our senior New Jersey political analyst,
and the host of "up with Steve Kornacki," Steve Kornacki.

Steve, it is striking to me on how many important issues New Jersey
disagrees with their governor who they just re-elected. Was this a
personality win in New Jersey?

STEVE KORNACKI, MSNBC HOST, UP WITH STEVE KORNACKI: In large part it
is. One thing that is important to keep in mind there, I think we can say,
look, Sandy effectively ended this election a year ago. And Chris Christie
won by the margins tonight because of Sandy. But I think before Sandy --.

O`DONNELL: Because of his perceived response?

KORNACKI: Because of the strength of leadership. The guy who rose
above politics. The guy who is willing to work with President Obama. All
right, these things are the reason why Chris Christie is going to get 60
percent of the vote.

However, even before Sandy last year, his approval rating, even in the
face of doing things, like the union pension bill, like canceling the
tunnel project, the, you know tunnel rail project, even in the face of
that, his approval rating was over 50 percent. When I look at the type of
voter that responded to Chris Christie, the parts of New Jersey where Chris
Christie has won back Democratic voters, voters who made this a Democratic
state, you are looking in a lot of cases at sort of these blue-collar
voters like middle sex (ph) county, New Jersey around the (INAUDIBLE) New
Jersey, Chris Christie does well and easy here. You put a poll up there,
showing Christie versus Hillary in New Jersey in 2016, now that`s
interesting.

If he had to make Hillary Clinton sweat for New Jersey. But the real
threat I see in the number in the Chris Christie gets out of New Jersey
nationally is a state like Pennsylvania. There is a lot of crossover
between the voters he won back to the Republican calm in New Jersey and the
voters that Republicans, if they can just get three or four percent more in
state like Pennsylvania, they could win the state. So, I think that`s the
real promise of Christie that you are seeing in his numbers.

O`DONNELL: Did we just see the first scene of your third volume about
presidential elections and, and if that`s Christie`s first move in the
presidential campaign what does he do next?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, it was a very -- I mean, this has been a
cliche for the last week that on election night tonight, we will begin,
Christie, 2016. That will bring in saying it. But I seem to, rewrap that
a bear hug around that cliche with the speech, you know, with his call out
to Washington and basically saying look at we are sending a message to
Washington. (INAUDIBLE) and see what we are doing in New Jersey.

The invocation of Sandy which was his, really, he has had two moments
on the national stage. One, giving Governor Romney`s keynote address at
the Republican convention in Tampa which did not go that well for him. And
then, of course, Sandy, a much bigger moment on the national stage which is
not only as Steve said, did him a lot of good, politically in New Jersey.
But also elevated on the national stage into a plausible presidential
candidate.

You know, the interesting thing. You know, governors often say, take,
two term pledges and break them. He didn`t take a two term pledge on the
speech. Although, he kept talking about how he was going to serve New
Jersey to the end and how he was going to stand until his mission was
completed. That`s what sets of timer running on when his mission will be
completed because --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Announces.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We can fast forward to a year from now. The
moment that all of the Sandy victims are back in their homes, I think he is
going to basically declare mission accomplished. I imagine he has a pretty
clear timetable wait out for when that is going to happen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And Cory Booker one of the pledges too.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. I mean, they all break those pledges and he
didn`t really make a pledge here. But look, I think he has got about one
year, right. Of a runway where he is going to be pretty much able to keep
his head down and focus on New Jersey and try to make good on some of the
rhetoric in the speech. But once we get past mid terms of next year. He
is going to have to be running flat out if he will run. I don`t think
there is any one in Republican politics who doesn`t think who is running in
2016.

O`DONNELL: Krystal, he has an advantage, in a way for among the
possible presidential candidates and that he has been under a national
media spotlight. But also under the New York media spotlight, which is
very intense, the local media.

So, that`s very good training for presidential media level which
becomes yet a whole another level of scrutiny.

KRYSTAL BALL, MSNBC HOST, THE CYCLE: Yes. It is. Although, I think
Democrats missed a chance in the race not that they had an opportunity to
win it. But they could have test run a couple of messages against hem see
how they could potentially build a case against Chris Christie if we are
going to see him again in 2016. So, I think that was a missed opportunity.

O`DONNELL: Well, I think Barbara Buono did that. I just don`t think
she had the money to get it out there.

BALL: She didn`t have support though, from either the local state
level elected official or from the national elected. So there was really
no opportunity, for her to get anything going. But if you look at Christie
here, I mean, Christie didn`t really run on an ideology. We talk about him
as a moderate Republican. But in terms of his message, and you heard it in
the speech, it is much more about leadership and telling you the truth and
always being forth right with you. I mean, that is much more of his
message. And if you can connect with voters on that level, then you are
able to gloss over a lot of the ideological differences which he has with
voters in his state and which he will have with the Republican primary
electorate.

O`DONNELL: Go ahead.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would say something. What crystal said, a
little harsher terms, right? What Democrats didn`t do is they didn`t muddy
Chris Christie up in this race. And the truth is there is a lot of stuff
and I won`t going to do a big book plug here, but there is a stuff and art
--

O`DONNELL: We are going to do this tomorrow night, by the way.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There is stuff in Chris Christie`s record that has
not gotten that much scrutiny in New Jersey at the national level. And
Democrats have not -- did not mess him up. And you know, if you think
about, muddy him up very much, you think about the last Republican, run for
reelection, and ran up a big margin like this who Democrats failed to muddy
up. That was George W. Bush. And that was exactly the model Bush followed
back in 1994.

KORNACKI: I would say, though, in 2009, a lot of the stuff that is
out there about Chris Christie, they did throw at him in 2009. And they
thought -- they believe if we had this conversation four years ago around
this time. There wasn`t a Democrat in New Jersey. There wasn`t a Democrat
nationally said they didn`t have the goods on Chris Christie. They would
take him out in 2009. But the one thing that I say about Barbara Buono to
keep in mind, the reason Barbara Buono was the candidate in the race
tonight, and I don`t mean to take a shot here, but the reason she was the
Democratic nominee was because -- .

O`DONNELL: Steve, you are going to have to defer to the mayor elect
of New York City. Bill de Blasio.

MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO, NEW YORK CITY: My fellow New Yorkers, today you
spoke out loudly and clearly for a new direction for our city. United by a
belief that our city should leave no New Yorker behind.

We`re proud of what we have accomplished on this campaign and we`re
hum bummed by it. And let me say to all of you from the bottom of my
heart, thank you. Thank you for all you have done.

CROWD: Thank you!

DE BLASIO: But let me be clear, our work, all of our work is really
just beginning. And we have no illusions about the task that lies ahead.
Tackling inequality isn`t easy. It never has been and it never will be.
The challenges we face have been decade in the making. And the problems we
set out to address will not be solved overnight. But make no mistake, the
people of this city have chosen a progressive path and tonight we set forth
on it together as one city.

(APPLAUSE)

DE BLASIO: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

To everyone who knocked on doors, made phone calls, persuaded your
friends, held house parties or even tweeted about this campaign. This
victory is yours. Thank you so much for what you achieved.

There are so many inspiring individuals and organizations, so many
friends, who made this victory possible. If I mention each by name we
would be here all night. But you know who you are, and you know I wouldn`t
be here without you. I do want to acknowledge two close friends who guided
and advised me at every turn even when the polls didn`t look so hot.

Please give it up for Ambassador Patrick Gaspard and Nick Balding.
And I want to say how grateful I am to Bill Hyers and Emma Wolf and the
best campaign team this city has ever seen!

And a special thank you to two people who have helped me for my first
run for city council here in this neighborhood (INAUDIBLE). Give them a
round of applause. But the people I am most grateful to, and most grateful
for, are standing right next to me, my partner in life, my best friend in
the world, she is brilliant and every bit as compassionate as she is tough.
The love of my life! Chirlane McCray.

And out of everything I have to feel fortunate about, I am most lucky,
most blessed, to be the father of two extraordinary children, Kiara and
Dante! They make me proud every single day. And my fell low New Yorkers,
they are very stylish. Tonight, I feel the deepest appreciation for
generations of my family including those no longer with us. And a special
thank you to my --

O`DONNELL: We are joined now by Joy Reid and Hunter Walker on the New
York City mayor`s race.

Joy Reid, this victory speech being held in Brooklyn which is a
statement in and of itself. Isn`t it?

JOY REID, MANAGING EDITOR, THE GRIO/MSNBC CONTRIBUTOR: No,
absolutely. And this morning, I think both candidates cast their ballots
in Brooklyn. Really, it is really a great statement, I think, the dramatic
change from the Manhattan-centric mayor of Michael Bloomberg to something
that really does speaks to the boroughs, and speak to some of the regions,
the parts of New York that kind of felt left out in a city that has really
become far more focused (INAUDIBLE), far more focus on servicing the well-
to-do.

De Blasio ran on abashedly liberal campaign. It would definitely
hearkening back to some of the things that David Dinkins. It is really a
pretty dramatic victory for progressive politics.

O`DONNELL: And Hunter Walker, what was the Bloomberg effect in this
race? Whenever there is a long serving incumbent, the voters have that
governing style in mind when they go to the polls in choosing a successor.

HUNTER WALKER, BROOKLYN REPORTER: Well, absolutely. Even though
Bloomberg`s approval rating isn`t actually that low, polls have showed that
perhaps 70 percent of New Yorkers want him to go. And also that just shy
of 70 percent think he paid too much attention to the wealthy. So, this
race was a change election. And De Blasio is the only one who, throughout
cast himself as sort of anti-Bloomberg candidate while others kind of ran
more toward the center and to their detriment.

O`DONNELL: We are going to be hearing from Terry McAuliffe in
Virginia soon.

John Halman, you are a New Yorker, watching this race from the start.

JOHN HALMAN, MANAGING DIRECTOR, GASCOIGNE HALMAN: Brooklynite.

O`DONNELL: Brooklynite. They went to your turf. Once Bill De Blasio
got altitude in this race he just never looked back.

HALMAN: He never looked back. And you know, you look over to his
right and look at his, his son Dante, who is an Afro hair is almost as big
as (INAUDIBLE), I think. You know, the ad that they ran, well you know, if
you look at the movement and when they ran when De Blasio in the Democrat
primary, put Dante forward and made that an incredible piece of political
advertising that cast in -- that differentiated him from a bunch of other
Democratic candidates with whom he was not that difference on those
policies. It gave him altitude over them.

And it is true. I mean his numbers skyrocketed in the span of very
short period of time in the primary. And he, basically was able to avoid
the run-off that would have, would have, might have led to a different
outcome in terms of who the party controlling city hall was. But could
have ended up with a different candidate on a Democratic side in a much
closer race. He just soared. And it`s really a real testament to, to the
Bloomberg, I think the Bloomberg factor is very powerful. And you know, we
saw the Bloomberg`s third term, you know, when the race turned out to be
much closer, people forget how governor, Mayor Bloomberg, even with the
huge financial advantage in the third term. The back part was building
even then. And by now, people are ready for a change in tone, in
temperament and the currently ideologically.

O`DONNELL: Well, there is a change in Virginia tonight. We are going
to hear from governor elect Terry McAuliffe.

CROWD: Terry. Terry. Terry.

GOV. TERRY MCAULIFFE, VIRGINIA: Thank you. What a great night,
everybody.

You know, over the past few months I have started speeches thanking a
lot of political figures. But I am so glad that tonight that the person
introducing me is my best friend and my wife, Dorothy.

And I want to know just a few week as go we celebrated our 25th
wedding anniversary. When we decided to do this campaign, we decided
together because we understood that it was a journey that we were all going
to have to take together.

And Dorothy, I could not be happier than to have you standing at my
side tonight. Thank you.

And to our five children who have been involved in the campaign from
day one. I want to thank, Dorie, Jack, Mary, Sally, and Peter for all of
the work that they`ve have done. All seven of us are incredibly grateful
to the most amazing volunteers and team leaders ever assembled in the
history of a governor`s campaign.

Just as I walked up here, they gave me the file numbers. Since
January you have knocked on 2.5 million doors in the commonwealth of
Virginia. I mean you have to pause for a second to comprehend such a large
number. The truth is that I got a lot of energy from seeing you all
working so hard. When I cam e to campus or a phone bank, I saw so many of
you, I want to tell you, it fired me up. It kept me going 100 percent
during those 16-hour days.

So, thank you. We love you. And you are spectacular.

I know all of you gave up time from your family because you believe
this election was so important. And thank you so much and I want all of
you here who work so hard since this campaign began to give yourselves an
enormous round of applause.

(APPLAUSE)

MCAULIFFE: I want to thank -- I didn`t have word to really express.
But I want t thank my extra ordinary campaign staff particularly the field
t for what they did to break records all over Virginia. Give yourselves a
campaign, a great round of applause.

(APPLAUSE)

MCAULIFFE: AND Let me say this. I also want to thank the absolutely
historic number of Republicans who crossed party lines to support me. You
were powerful messengers for our mainstream campaign. Thank you.

(APPLAUSE)

MCAULIFFE: Most importantly, I want to thank the voters of Virginia
who went out and voted for us today from Lee County to Virginia Beach to
Winchester, thank you for what you did to help us get elected the governor
of the commonwealth of Virginia.

(APPLAUSE)

MCAULIFFE: Look. I know, this has been a hard fought race. Part of that
is, you know, is the nature of politics. And part of it was that the
attorney general and I had some very big differences on some very important
issues. And let me say this. I think every single person in Virginia is
glad that the TV ad are now over.

(APPLAUSE)

MCAULIFFE: And I know passions are high. But I think it is important
to recognize that while the attorney general and I have a lot of
differences, he is a principled man who has sacrificed an enormous amount
of time, away from his family. I thank Ken Cuccinelli for his service and
dedication to the commonwealth of Virginia. Virginia.

(APPLAUSE)

MCAULIFFE: Virginia and America have seen contentious races before.
And every time, we end up coming together to pursue the common good. One
particularly famous Virginian confronted a very bitterly divided electorate
after the presidential election in 1800.

But instead of relishing his victory or governing only for his
supporters, Thomas Jefferson devoted much of his first inaugural address to
bridging partisan divides.

He said quote "but every difference of opinion is not a difference of
principle. We have called by different nails, brethren of the same
principle. 213 years later, the truth is -- is that our differences of
opinion are still often not a difference of principle or goal."

Over the next four years most Democrats and Republicans in Virginia
want to make Virginia a model for pragmatic leadership that is friendly to
job creation. A model for strong schools that prepare our students for the
jobs of tomorrow. A model for welcoming the best and brightest scientists
and I innovators no matter race, gender, religion or whom you love. And a
model for an official transportation system that reduces gridlock for our
families and our business.

But all this is only possible if Virginia is also the model for
bipartisan cooperation. And that is a view that I share with the next
lieutenant-governor of the commonwealth of Virginia, Ralph Northam (ph).

(APPLAUSE)

MCAULIFFE: Well, there are a lot of proud Democrats here, and aren`t
we proud, folks. I am also particularly proud to welcome all of the
Republicans who are here tonight. Give them a great round of applause.

(APPLAUSE)

MCAULIFFE: The truth is that this election was never a choice between
Democrats and Republicans. It was a choice about whether Virginia would
continue the mainstream bipartisan tradition that has served us so well
over the last decade. At a time when Washington was often broken, just
think about what Virginia has been able to accomplish when we work
together.

Under Governor Mark Warner, we preserved our AAA bond rating and he
made the single largest investment in k-12 education in Virginia history.

Under Governor Tim Kaine, we were honored as the best state to do
business, the best man in the state, he prudently guided us through the
great recession.

And let me say this -- under Governor Bob McDonnell, our unemployment
is one of the lowest on the east coast. And we passed the first
transportation funding in 27 years with bipartisan support.

Now, during the next four years it will be my obligation and honor to
continue that tradition and to get started over the next three months I am
going to work hard to reach out to every single Republican in the general
assembly. I want to listen to them. I want to work with them. So we can
advance our shared goals.

(APPLAUSE)

MCAULIFFE: The economic challenges facing Virginia are daunting.
Sequestration for another year. And more federal budget cuts on the
horizon. But for those of you who know me well, I believe that a daunting
challenge is always a great opportunity.

Working together we will protect the jobs we have but we will work to
diversify our economy. First, is work force training. For me the best
part of this campaign I was able to visit every single all 23 community
colleges in the commonwealth of Virginia.

You meet people of all ages who are gaining new skills for a new
economy. And finding opportunities to simplify and do what we need to do
to make sure that we have those jobs of the 21st century. They are our
true engines of work force development, and we have reduced funding over
the last couple years by 40 percent. We need to make sure we are investing
in our education system.

When you take average Virginia pay, average Virginia pay, we win 50th
out of 50 states. We need to work together to pay our teacher what they
deserve in the commonwealth of Virginia. When 80 percent of the brain is
developed between birth and 3-years-old, we need to make sure we are
investing in early childhood development. But also, the passage of a
funding bill is only the first step in addressing the critical
transportation problems that we face in Virginia. Over the next four
years, we have --

O`DONNELL: You are listening to the governor elect of Virginia,
Democrat Terry McAuliffe. Our election night continues now live with Chris
Hayes.

END

Copyright 2013 CQ-Roll Call, Inc. All materials herein are protected by
United States copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed,
transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written
permission of CQ-Roll Call. You may not alter or remove any trademark,
copyright or other notice from copies of the content.>