Longtime Democratic strategist James Carville is “scared to death” of the November election. This election won’t just determine the next five years; it will also determine the future of the Democratic Party. And that future doesn’t look good, according to Carville.
The Democratic Party’s infighting has resulted in a lurch to the Left — a move that’s leaving the rest of the country behind, Carville explained, pointing to Iowa’s low voter turnout and President Trump’s growing approval ratings.
“What the hell am I supposed to think?” Carville told Vox. “It’s like we’re losing our damn minds. Someone’s got to step their game up here.”
When asked if the Democratic Party has “tacked too far to the Left,” Carville replied: “They’ve tacked off the damn radar screen. And look, I don’t consider myself a moderate or a centrist. I’m a liberal. But not everything has to be on the left-right continuum.”
Policies such as student loan debt forgiveness, the decriminalization of illegal immigration, and “Medicare for all” won’t help Democrats win in 2020, Carville said. “It doesn’t matter what you think about any of that, or if there are good arguments — talking about that is not how you win a national election,” he argued. “It’s not how you become a majoritarian party.”
As Sanders’s campaign continues to gain speed, Carville is justifiably concerned — not because Sanders can’t win the general election, but because he’d make it too hard for the party to be able to capture the Senate.
Carville also understands the big picture: A President Sanders would only be able to get things done via executive order, which means that whatever progress Sanders forces through Washington, D.C., could eventually be undone by the next president.
“There’s no chance in hell we’ll ever win the Senate with Sanders at the top of the party defining it for the public,” Carville said. “Eighteen percent of the country elects more than half of our senators. That’s the deal, fair or not. So long as [Mitch] McConnell runs the Senate, it’s game over. There’s no chance we’ll change the courts, and nothing will happen, and he’ll just be sitting up there screaming in the microphone about the revolution.”
Many of the presidential candidates’ woke policy proposals are nothing more than “rabbit holes,” Carville continued, advocating for a platform that can “connect to people’s actual lives.”
“Most of the people aren’t into all this distracting shit about open borders and letting prisoners vote,” he explained. “They don’t care. They have lives to lead. They have kids. They have parents that are sick. That’s what we have to talk about. That’s all we should talk about.”
Carville is right: The average voter cares about the things that personally affect his day-to-day life. This is, in part, why Trump’s approval ratings have grown over the past few months. The job market is growing, the economy is stable, and industries in impoverished regions are making a comeback. The benefits of these policies are direct and often immediate. Compare that to Sanders’s vague, idealistic “left-wing revolution,” as Carville dubbed it, and it’s obvious which way the middle of the road will lean.
“The Democratic Party has to drive a narrative that doesn’t give off vapors that we’re smarter than everyone or culturally arrogant,” Carville said.
The November election completely depends on the swing voters, of which there are many. Carville understands this, but much of the Democratic base does not. If the Democratic candidates were smart, they’d listen to Carville’s advice, as unconventional as it may be. But Carville has learned to lower his expectations, though he still hopes that at least one of the Democratic candidates snaps out of it before it’s too late.
“Falling into despair won’t help anyone,” he concluded. “I mean, you can curse the darkness, or you can light a candle. I’m getting a f—ing welding torch. Okay?”
