The first segment of Tuesday’s Martin Bashir featured a panel discussion using the Virginia gubernatorial race as evidence that “hardcore conservatism” wouldn’t sell to mainstream America.

Ken Cuccinelli, an ardent conservative, trails Democrat Terry McAuliffe by 6 points in the polls, proof, the panelists say, that Cuccinelli’s positions are out of step with America in 2013. There was no mention that Cuccinelli's deficit was less than the projected totals for the libertarian candidate in the race.

The second segment focused on New Jersey, and Governor Chris Christie’s expected double digit win over Democrat Barbara Buono. A discussion of Christie’s prospects for 2016 ensued, and panelist Steve Kornacki noted that Christie is actually much more conservative than he is sometimes portrayed:

All of the major boxes you need to check off to be a Republican today, you look at abortion, you look at guns, issues like this, he actually checks off those boxes.

But if Cuccinelli’s loss was an indictment on conservatism, how to explain Christie’s performance in a state much bluer than Virginia?

Grasping for any way to try and bridge the gap in the logical inconsistencies from her previous statements, fill-in host Joy Reid then suggested that the reason Christie was winning was because he hadn’t really been tested:

I was looking earlier…Christie beat John Corzine in 2009 49-45, really not a blowout, right? Barack Obama won New Jersey 58-40.9. I get the sense that Chris Christie really hasn’t been tested against a strong Democrat. He really is still an untested commodity

Kornacki, who hosts a weekend show on MSNBC, infused some intellectual honesty into the discussion:

To put it in context, that four point win in 2009 was the second highest margin of victory for any Republican statewide in New Jersey in nearly 40 years. So the fact that he did that was somewhat monumental.”

So to sum up: When Republicans lose, it’s because they’re too conservative. When they win, sometimes by historic margins in states that haven’t been red in nearly three decades, it’s…for some other reason.