James Carville, the Democratic strategist who coined the phrase “blame the economy, you idiot,” has admitted that his predictions about the 2024 race were wrong and that the economy is to blame for Democrats’ losses.

Carville wrote in an op-ed for the New York Times that he truly believes Harris will win the election, but reflects on what has gone wrong for Democrats since President-elect Trump’s decisive victory in November. He said there was.

“For the past two months, I’ve been going over this in my head. All the variables, all the assumptions, all the questions about Joe Biden’s re-election decision, and what kind of Democrats and messages Donald Trump “I keep coming back to the same thing,” he wrote.

“The reason we lost is very simple: it was and always will be the economy, stupidity,” Carville continued. “We must start 2025 with this truth as our political north star and not be distracted by anything else.”

The veteran political strategist said in August that he doubted whether his political philosophy, in which the economy decides elections, was still valid. At the time, President Biden faced declining approval ratings, even though the economy was strong and improving.

“I’m starting to doubt myself a little bit, because this economy is so good, it’s probably going to turn around, and it may take a while for people to feel it,” Carville said at the time. ” he said.

Months after the election, he wrote in an op-ed that Trump won by focusing on economic insecurity, especially among middle-class and low-income Americans, even though the U.S. economy was strong. .

“Democrats have completely lost the economic narrative. The only way to save the election is to take it back,” he said. “They either don’t feel their own pain or care too much about others.” Things instead. ”

Carville, a strategist who supported former President Clinton’s 1992 presidential campaign, proposed rebuilding the Democratic Party by finding new ways to talk to Americans about the economy and focus on issues that affect everyday life. did. He argued that many people have spent too much time focusing on social issues and the president-elect’s legal problems.

“Furthermore, many Americans say that even if Trump’s indictment is justified, they don’t care about Trump’s anti-democratic impulses or social problems at all if he can’t support himself or his family. It’s clear,” he said.

The commentator added that Democrats “must go on the offensive with popular and populist economic policies that are untenable,” suggesting that they are focusing on the minimum wage as well as abortion and immigration as economic issues. did.

He encouraged them to embrace the new media environment. Trump participated in popular podcasts such as Joe Rogan, which was seen as a successful strategy for the 2024 presidential race.

“To Democratic presidential candidates, your 2028 auditions should be based on two things: 1) How honest you are about the economy, and 2) How well you can communicate it on your podcast,” Carville said. wrote in the Times.

He added: “The path forward could not be more certain. Whether we live or die depends on winning public recognition of our economy.”