James Carville built his career on being the sharpest tactician in Democrat politics. But boy, did Trump break him. He’s completely lost his edge to Trump Derangement Syndrome, and most of what he says these days isn't worth the airtime. But his latest tirade, aimed squarely at the socialist wing of his own party, is worth a second look, not because he's right, but because of what it reveals about him.
Carville released a video for Politicon on Friday responding to a wave of far-left primary victories. His message: Democrats fighting Democrats, instead of uniting against Republicans, is what's handing the GOP its wins.
"These people are so f*****g stupid, I don't know what to say about it," Carville said, referring to democratic socialists and leftists challenging party leadership. "So now we have this idea that these insurgent Democrats — and what is their solution? Is their solution to beat Republicans, to run against Republicans? No!" He continued: "Their solution is to beat Democrats like they're part of the problem."
This isn't new territory for Carville. He has long blamed Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) for Hillary's 2016 loss, once calling it "the most catastrophic event of this century." He views today's far-left insurgents the same way. "How did Trump win? I'll tell you how, because f*****g Bernie Sanders is the reason that Donald Trump is president. You hear me? Listen to me," he said.
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Carville insists the Democrat Party itself isn't the problem, but that the disillusioned voters drifting toward its far-left flank are the problem. He warned against falling "for the allure of false prophets," citing Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed specifically. El-Sayed had said the movement doesn't need "party elites" like Carville to make the "changes we have to bring forward in our party."
"It's not both parties' fault!" Carville exclaimed. "One party expanded health insurance, alright? Another party destroyed it. One party balanced the budget and created economic prosperity. The other party destroyed it. One party brought about a deal with Iran's nuclear program. Another party destroyed it."
He’s wrong, of course, on both counts, but I’ll move on, because here’s the point I was after. Carville dared to insist he’s part of the normie wing of the party. "I am a proud liberal," he said. "I am not a leftist. I don't believe you ought to break the thing up. I think the role of government is to help people, to be a partner with people, to help them get educated, to help them have retirement security."
Oh, if I had a dollar for every time a radical leftist claimed not to be one. But, believe me when I tell you that Carville is one of them. His problem isn’t what they stand for; it’s the electoral politics behind it. He wants Democrats to win. He couldn’t care less about how radical their platform is. If they can win, that’s all that matters.
As for his claim that he doesn’t want to break things up. Earlier this year, Carville called on Democrats to use every power grab available to lock in permanent control of Washington. "If the Democrats win the presidency and both houses of Congress, I think on day one, they should make Puerto Rico [and] D.C. a state, and they should expand the Supreme Court to 13. F**k it. Eat our dust."
He’ll blow things up to help keep the Democrats in power. He doesn’t care. And trust me, that isn't the platform of a moderate liberal. It's the platform of a leftist who prefers his radicalism to be a bit more discreet. The reality is, Carville's complaint about the socialist wing was never really about ideology. I guarantee that he agrees with most of it. His actual fear is that voters can see through the packaging, and that a party led openly by socialists will scare off the moderates Democrats need to win elections. He's not worried they're wrong. He's worried they're unelectable.
