Andrea Mitchell breaks down the race for Governor

Just before she got set to moderate the lively debate between the three democratic candidates for Governor, I had the chance to chat with NBC’s Chief Foreign Affairs corespondent Andrea Mitchell about the race.

In addition to her responsibilities as a reporter for NBC news, she also hosts a political talk show 0n MSNBC and is keeping a very close eye on how the politics in Virginia could have an impact on the entire country.

I thought she had some incredible insight on a number of important topics regarding the fall election and the June primary. She very much believes that both Republicans and Democrats are putting a great deal of stock into the way Virginia reacts in the voting booth. Mitchell told me, it will be the first true indication as to how voters are reacting to Barack Obama and the democratic control of the federal government.

As for the politics in the Old Dominion, Mitchell said the transformation of Virginia into a “purple” state is very indicative of the mood of the rest of the country. She said that while Virginia is much more democratic than it has been, it is still more down the middle than it is anything. She indicated that we could see some other states follow that same pattern.

I also asked her about how Bob McDonnell is being impacted by this very competitive Democratic primary. She said that while he is avoiding the dirt and expense of a primary he is also out of the headlines. Mitchell believes that a well run primary could energize Democrats as it did for Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

My complete, uncut interview with Ms. Mitchell is after the jump..