Democratic political strategist James Carville, who has openly criticized the Harris campaign since the Democratic Party’s defeat in the 2024 election, reflected on the fact that his prediction that Vice President Harris would defeat President-elect Trump was wrong. It’s very depressing.”
In an interview with CNN’s Michael Smerconish on Saturday, Mr. Carville was asked about a recent New York Times op-ed in which Mr. Carville responded to his famous catchphrase, “Blame the economy, you idiot.” He heavily relied on the vice president to blame his defeat on the economy.
The news host read out comments from readers on the essay, arguing that America doesn’t seem to vote based on candidates’ character, integrity, and decency. Veteran strategists agreed.
Carville, who spent much of his career as an advisor to former President Bill Clinton, said in an interview that Mediaite reported: “I totally agree with that guy. It’s very depressing.” “But if you’re doing political strategy, if there’s a plane crash, you have to go back and find out what went wrong. You don’t say, well, forget it and move on.” ”
“No, were the flaps set to the correct settings or was there something the pilot wasn’t paying attention to? I don’t know, but it’s kind of depressing,” he continued. “But, Michael, there’s a simple, basic rule of politics: Voters want elections about them. They don’t want elections about you or your opponent. And there are too many of them. We lost it. I lost it myself.” ”
Carville argued that Democrats focused too much of the spotlight on Trump, leaving voters’ concerns and demands in the dark.
“We didn’t build it with the voters in mind. That’s it. It’s never a good idea. And why would someone like me, who’s 80 years old and have been doing this for 50 years, reach that level of stupidity?” “I had to ask myself, could I have fallen in?” he said.
“But I think we did it. And, you know, let’s learn from this. This is a disaster,” Carville continued. “I agree. It’s depressing, but I think the biggest mistake we make is to hold an event like this and not learn from it.”
In a recent interview with The Hill’s “Rising,” Carville said Democrats used what he called “NPR language” (a term traditionally considered “politically correct”) during the campaign. accused of rebelling against something. Phrases like “defund the police” and “LatinX” were memorable.
“What we want in politics revolves around what we call sticky and what we remember, like ‘defund the police,’ which are the three stupidest words in the history of the English language. ” he told guest host Niall Stanage. “But I’m stuck.”
The Louisiana Democratic Party has also criticized Harris’ campaign for its “incalculable spending,” which has come under intense scrutiny since she ceded the race to Trump.