MSNBC contributor Joy Reid called Democratic Virginia gubernatorial hopeful Terry McAuliffe "not a great candidate" and "not a getting-elected guy" Monday, in light of news he trailed Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli in early polls.
"Low interest in the race, combined with high-name recognition for Cuccinelli, combined with, look, not a great candidate in Terry McAuliffe," Reid said on "NOW with Alex Wagner." "He's a money guy, he's not a getting-elected guy. He's not a politician, he's a money guy."
Unpleased with Cuccinelli as an alternative, Wagner critiqued the attorney general on the sodomy laws case, without providing important context: The case in question concerned a 47-year-old man who solicited a 17-year-old girl, and used the law to prosecute the crime as a felony, rather than a misdemeanor.
McAuliffe has been hit with a slew of negative publicity in recent weeks as his checkered past as head of flailing electric car company GreenTech and his treatment of his family, as recounted in his autobiography, have come to prominence.
Though he meant for his time with the GreenTech to bolster his credentials a job-creator, it instead has raised concerns about his business model and whether its financing was a "visa-for-sale" scheme for Chinese investors. He blamed engineers for a broken promise he made to create jobs with Green Tech, and he also shrugged off setting up the company's factory to Mississippi rather than home in Virginia, saying "it is what it is."
Also, some embarrassing passages from his autobiography, What a Party!, have surfaced in the past week, including one where he admitted leaving his wife Dorothy in labor to make it to a Washington Post party, and another, in which he left Dorothy crying with a newborn in the car to attend a fundraiser, where he reported raising $1 million for the Democratic Party.