James Carville speaks at the annual U.S. Conference of Mayors meeting, Monday, June 26, 2017, in Miami Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
I’m sure most of you are familiar with Bill Clinton campaign mastermind James Carville.
Well, guess what? He exploded.
The reason? The possibility that one socialist Bernard Sanders could rise as the Democratic Party’s candidate for president.
Could be — Bernie might soon be the DNC’s only hope of snatching the presidential pen from a certain New York billionaire.
Why’s James so scared? Because the party’s in danger of transforming into an “ideological cult.”
He’s “scared to death.”
On Monday night, the election strategist bounced onto MSNBC to discuss the Iowa caucus, and it wasn’t long before he speared his party’s troubles relative to Trump’s numbers:
“The polling averages have not been very good the last 10 days. And I’ve seen some pretty good polls that show enthusiasm among Democrats is not as high as we would like it. So there’s something as people are watching this process that is concerning.”
The Daily Wire certainly agrees — it called Iowa participation “shockingly low.”
Some might even label it a disaster:
If you are concerned about the direction of the Democratic Party after the disaster in Iowa, I strongly suggest you watch James Carville's interview that aired this evening on MSNBC… https://t.co/4mTvZ9zYn0
— Thomas F.X. Sullivan (@IrishHoodlum) February 5, 2020
Will New Hampshire be tons better? Why would it?
As for Bern, James gave a bit of an Alrighty:
“I’ll get behind him — I have no choice.”
He thinks the (Democratic) world’s gone crazy:
“But look at the British Labour Party. We’re like talking about people voting from jail cells. We’re talking about not having a border. I mean, come on, people.”
Then he let the heck loose:
“It matters who the candidate is, it matters what a party chooses to talk about! I’m 75 years old. Why am I here doing this? Because I am scared to death, that’s why! Let’s get relevant here, people, for sure. All the Sanders people are taking pictures wishing (British Labour Party leader) Jeremy Corbyn the best. I don’t want to go down that path!”
Wanna be fringe-group freaks or mainstream medalists?
“Do we want to be an ideological cult? Or do we want to have a majoritarian instinct to have the majority party?!”
James then addressed a fellow panelist — erstwhile Democratic Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill. She believes the party going further Left is just following the lead of the voters (does she know Donald Trump won the last presidential election?).
Here’s Carville:
“You and I know that 18 percent of the country elects 52 senators. The urban core is not gonna get it done. What we need is power! Do you understand? That’s what this is about.”
More relevance, relevance, relevance:
“This party needs to wake up and make sure that we talk about things that are relevant to people — we need to go back to 2018, where we had good, diverse, strong candidates that had real connection to the community and talked about real things. We don’t need to become the British Labour Party. That’s a bad thing. It’s not going well over there.”
Ouch. James Carville on MSNBC, talking about Iowa and the rolling Dem disaster: "We don't need to become the British Labour Party." pic.twitter.com/JeoT1lOdkZ
— Scott Whitlock (@ScottJW) February 4, 2020
He’s certainly right that the path to winning an election is appealing to the most people on the biggest issues that affect them in the most profound ways.
2020 Dem candidates seem to be going a different route.
As I noted in January, Joe Biden’s running on the platform of letting guys compete in girls’ sports:
Let’s be clear: Transgender equality is the civil rights issue of our time. There is no room for compromise when it comes to basic human rights.
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) January 25, 2020
In June, the AP quoted Joe on passing that bill
“It will be the first thing I ask to be done.”
Bernie’s made it a big part of his run, too:
His webpage lists 3 key points:
- Pass the Equality Act, the Every Child Deserves a Family Act and other bills to prohibit discrimination against LGBTQ+ people.
- Ensure LGBTQ+ people have comprehensive health insurance without discrimination from providers.
- Advance policies to ensure students can attend school without fear of bullying, and work to substantially reduce suicides.
With total respect to any and all issues people care about, it’s the biggies that get you into the White House.
During his time on the tube, James proved he’s still got his hand on the pulse of the nation. I think.
Either way, he can still get jiggy with it:
https://twitter.com/Modlib2/status/1224836493274947584
Will the Dems wake up? Or will they stay so woke, they’re asleep where it counts?
Personally, I don’t see ’em making it to the Oval Office. That’s a long drive from where they are now; and they’re walking not running, with no shoes. They’d do much better to eschew Barefoot Town for CarVille.
-ALEX
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