James Carville believes too much “left-wing nonsense and claptrap” is why his party failed so often in Tuesday’s elections, especially in Virginia.
When asked Wednesday how Terry McAuliffe lost to Glenn Youngkin in a state that President Joe Biden won by over 10 points a year earlier, the long-time Democrat strategist told PBS NewsHour that it was “stupid wokeness” and the overall agenda pushed by progressives.
“What went wrong is stupid wokeness. Don’t just look at Virginia and New Jersey. Look at Long Island, Buffalo, look at Minneapolis, even look at Seattle, Washington,” the 77-year-old told the liberal outlet. “I mean, this ‘defund the police’ lunacy, this take Abraham Lincoln’s name off of schools; people see that. And it really has a suppressive effect all across the country on Democrats. Some of these people need to go to a woke detox center or something. We got to change this and not be about changing dictionaries and change laws.”
Some left-wing pundits, who’ve been throwing tantrums on cable news the last 36 hours, feel differently.
They predictably blamed racism and some elusive “white supremacy” for McAuliffe’s loss — despite voters electing Winsome Sears as the first black female lieutenant governor in state history the same night. These are also many of the same folks who supported a Biden/Harris presidential ticket one year ago.
'Journalist' Errin Haines compares people who oppose CRT to those who would have opposed racial integration in the Civil Rights Era and interracial marriages (and thus supported Jim Crow laws). pic.twitter.com/L8a4thKqCz
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) November 3, 2021
Carville, who despises Youngkin, suggested that this strategy will hurt Democrats in the long run.
“I’ve got news for you, you’re hurting the party and hurting the very people you’re trying to help,” he claimed. “And Terry…got caught up in something national, and we gotta change this internally.”
And yet despite the epic failures of the McAuliffe campaign and choosing wokeness over winning, other Democrat operatives still disagree on the future strategy.
Related: Terry McAuliffe’s Lackluster, Bad-Faith Finish
Former President Obama’s campaign manager David Plouffe inexplicably said that Democrats should “go on the offense” with the bigotry of critical race theory, even if they also say it’s not being taught or lie about what it teaches.
“Critical race theory was a lie, and I think we have to go on the offense,” Plouffe claimed. “Terry McAuliffe tried to do this, say it’s a lie, they know it’s a lie. But are you scared for your kids to learn about slavery or lynching or housing discrimination?”
No parent is opposed to teaching about slavery, and the topic has been at the forefront of school curricula for well over a century.
In closing, Carville reminded woke Democrats like Plouffe, “These people have got to understand they’re not popular around the country. People don’t like them. They’re voting because that’s how they express themselves in how much they disagree with this. It’s not just Virginia and New Jersey. It’s literally up to and including everywhere, including Seattle.”
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