Booman Tribune

James Carville is Bitter

by Steven D
Tue Aug 26th, 2008 at 10:14:16 AM EST

I guess Mr. Carville's true colors (and one has to say they are very pale colors indeed) are showing. I have little respect left for Mr. Carville after the last few years of seeing him morph into a cartoon caricature of a human being, but his "critique" of the Democratic Convention;s first night hits a new low, even for him. He truly is a small minded, greedy and petty little man who doesn't give a damn for his own party, or for that matter for the millions of Americans, like my family and no doubt yours, who are suffering under the Bush Presidency. All he cares about apparently are the opportunities to make money he lost when Hillary Clinton stopped being his meal ticket:

On CNN this evening, Clintonista James Carville voiced his displeasure with tonight's proceedings as having no theme, no message.

"James Carville seems the least satisfied Democrat in here right now," noted CNN's Anderson Cooper. "What's going on James?"

"Well if this party has a message it has done a hell of a job of hiding it tonight I promise you that," Carville said.

"How do you mean?" asked the anchor. "You haven't heard about Iraq? You haven't heard about John McCain?"

"...George W. Bush, you haven't heard any of this," said Carville. "I mean we are a country that's borderline recession, 85% 80% wrong track country, people, health care, energy, I haven't heard anything about gas prices, I mean maybe we are going to look better Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday but right now like I say we are playing hide the message pretty good."

"David Gergen said this a short time ago, that in the first two hours what is the message?" said Cooper.

"And you know what? David didn't get to where he was in life because he's stupid He was exactly right. I look at this and I am about to jump out of my chair...There's no message coming out of here, there is no sense that the party has a sense of urgency, and we've only got four nights this is 25% of the whole thing."

For a man to watch the speeches that were given by Ted Kennedy and Michelle Obama and not be moved by them in even some small way is sad. Yet Carville, ever the attack dog for Bill Clinton, can't stop himself from going after Obama. He's like one of those Japanese soldiers left alone on some small island in the Pacific who never got the news that the war is over, that his side lost, and that a new reality has emerged. All I can say is thank god Hillary Clinton lost, if Carville was part of the baggage she would have brought to the Presidency.

As for Carville's criticism, I think the first night of the convention did exactly what it was intended to do: rally the base of the party, and promote two very important messages: one of unity, unity among Democrats and unity among Americans, a unity achievable only if Obama is elected. Second message, to show that Obama and his family, are not the bizarre creatures which the media and Republican partisans (i.e., McCain's Rovian attack dogs) have portrayed them to be, i.e., as elitists and as leftist extremists, but instead typical Americans just like the millions of viewers watching them, with a story just like the millions of Americans watching them, and with values regarding country and family that are shared by the millions of Americans watching them.

Ted Kennedy's speech, unexpected as it may have been, accomplished the goal of unity all by itself. Michelle Obama's speech delivered on the second message. "Here are the real Obamas" she told America. People who believe in fairness, opportunity for all. People who worked hard and got where they are today because of that hard work, and because of the sacrifices their parents made for them. People who understand the difficulties and suffering we all face in life because they have endured that same suffering and those same difficulties in their own lives. People who care about their fellow Americans, a concern expressed not with words but by their deeds in turning away from the easy money of big law firms for the hard slog of working to improve the lives of people in need. That was a tremendous message to deliver last night. And anyone who watched those speakers and heard those speeches felt that message delivered straight to their gut. Indeed, Ted Kennedy and Michelle Obama's speeches were filled with moments that would make very effective political ads should the Obama campaign wish to do so. I doubt any speaker at the GOP convention will rival them.

I don't know. Maybe James Carville is just too bitter, too wrapped up in his own little petty concerns about all the lobbying money he lost now that Hillary won't be President, to see that. Or maybe he's just a guy who never shed his racist, redneck Louisiana past. Who knows. But the sooner he leaves the national stage, the better for all of us. I doubt anyone on Fox News was any nastier than Carville was in blindly lashing out at the convention's first night of speeches and speakers. He represents the politics of corruption, of influence peddling, of selling out America and ordinary Americans for corporate profits. He represents the past, one of failure and divisiveness. One where loyalty to his Patrone overrides every other consideration. He's a dinosaur. The sooner someone puts him out of his misery the better.



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Look who he married. That has always said more than enough about Carville, to me. It's one thing to spar with a political rival. It's another thing to marry them. Either you are being led by your pheremones or you have no real conviction to begin with.

"If you look for the social economic motive, you will not have to wait for history to tell you what was propaganda and what was truth." - George Seldes
by Real History Lisa (lpeaseRemoveThis@gte.net) on Tue Aug 26th, 2008 at 10:18:13 AM EST
Mary was never his rival, she was just the flip side of their business partnership.

A conservative is a man with two perfectly good legs who, however, has never learned how to walk forward. Franklin D. Roosevelt
by Steven D on Tue Aug 26th, 2008 at 10:21:23 AM EST
[ Parent ]
I agree with this.  And their business is pandering and pusillanimous punditry, ratcheting up the rhetoric, dealing in flimflammery and  political hocus pocus.  The corporate mediocracy continues to need the services of them and their ilk to buttress its ratings and keep those advertising dollars flowing.  They do not serve the American citizen, and probably have nothing but scorn for us.  They relish the idea of so-called "low-information" voters, because they hope to mislead them and distract them from the real issues.  If we are ever to have an educated citizenry, we need to weed them out of the process.
by Mum on Tue Aug 26th, 2008 at 08:10:30 PM EST
[ Parent ]
I don't think there have been any pheromones floating around Carville for decades. To think that Pepsi had him guzzling their brown sugar water during the Super Bowl. Who was that supposed to appeal to?

It's enlightening to see how many of the Clinton apparatchiks seem to be working against the Democratic Party and Democratic ideals.

by Bob In Pacifica on Tue Aug 26th, 2008 at 10:31:48 AM EST
[ Parent ]
The animosity certainly confirms my long-held assertion that the Clintons were more enamored of corporate interests than the plight of laborers.

"If you look for the social economic motive, you will not have to wait for history to tell you what was propaganda and what was truth." - George Seldes
by Real History Lisa (lpeaseRemoveThis@gte.net) on Tue Aug 26th, 2008 at 12:09:38 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Mary McCheney Matalin...she is evil personified ...........She was responsible for all the bogus intel that came out of the White House Iraq Group, that was then sold by Nicole new McCone HO Wallace.
Carville was NEVER a real Democrat...he was DLC hack that was there solely for the money and pushing horrendous trolls into office like the ClintonS! The ClintonS, Carville, Begalla , Lanny Davis et al have shown themselves to be simply money grubbing HACKS ad HO'S....the whole narrative nonsense of the Clintons and PUMA etc is brought on by their selfishness and the fact that Hillary LOST the primay after Feb and that they were going to steal it away from that skinny Black dude, who should know his friggin place....Carville is a cracker plain and simple....and PS I am a white guy calling him that!
I am really upset, that imbeciles like Carville are put out there as representative of Dems....that couldn't be further from the truth...and MEMO TO CRACKER CARVILLE...IF...and that is a big IF Obama loses...Hillary will NEVER get the nom in 2012...she will be lucky to win her senate seat when she is up for reelection!
by gaiilonfong on Tue Aug 26th, 2008 at 10:35:24 AM EST
Carville has always irritated me. Even way back when he was with the winners, he was too mean to be tolerated. He just won't matter after this convention. No one will invite him on tv unless he gets a gig with Faux being a critic of the Democratic Party. He's history and he knows it.

The message I got last night was clear and strong: Hope for the future!

by sjct on Tue Aug 26th, 2008 at 10:43:22 AM EST
James Carville never did care about anything but his own power and ability to make money.  He's never been a Democrat or a Liberal or a Progressive.

His true colors?  Someone who would demean people who live in trailerparks and those who live in them with the "drag the one hundred dollar bill" remark.  That's who Carville is.  A greedy snob without a social conscience.

by Heart of the Rockies on Tue Aug 26th, 2008 at 10:58:48 AM EST
[Carville's] like one of those Japanese soldiers left alone on some small island in the Pacific who never got the news that the war is over...

He reminds me of a mean little yap dog, that follows you around the house barking -- he'll back off a little when you pay attention to him, but will bite your leg as soon as you turn your back.

Carville was a hack consultant with an unbroken string of failures -- his one success was latching onto Bill Clinton, and coining the phrase "it's the economy, stupid" to keep Bill on message.

From that one bit of notoriety, he built million dollar career as a talking head. And people wonder why public confidence in the MSM is collapsing.

by ck on Tue Aug 26th, 2008 at 11:11:40 AM EST
well, he did have a couple of other successes.  He got Harris Wofford elected, which was nice while it lasted. And he got Zell Miller elected.
by BooMan on Tue Aug 26th, 2008 at 11:18:48 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Zell Miller?  Jesus.  Q.E.D.

Anybody with functioning emotions knows that Michelle hit it out of the park.  As for the other speakers, 1. The pundits were bullshitting over them anyway; 2. this thing -- the convention and the campaign as a whole -- takes a while, and there's such a thing as pacing and not hitting one note all the time; and 3. God, Pelosi's a really poor speaker.  

It would have been nice had the dignified, non-spittle-flinging GOP version of Zell Miller -- former Rep. Jim Leach -- gotten a little more play than he did.  

by Joe Bourgeois on Tue Aug 26th, 2008 at 11:39:25 AM EST
[ Parent ]
ahh yes, Zell Miller GOPper

The sleep of reason begets tyrants. -Goya
by joe in oklahoma on Tue Aug 26th, 2008 at 11:42:51 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Getting Harris Wofford elected was a real success, for which he deserves some credit -- but working for Zell Miller is cracker on cracker. Is that cracker squared?

His most notorious post Clinton failure was spiking the ball at the five yard line in the 1993 New Jersey Governor's race.

by ck on Tue Aug 26th, 2008 at 12:20:52 PM EST
[ Parent ]
So if the Dems came out firing with ammo at McCain last night, we all know what the pundits would have screamed, especially the propagandists at FNC.

The "lack of respect, not unity, cheap shots, not a different politics," blah, blah. I am sure they will use lines like this for their post "analysis" in the upcoming evenings.

Independents, older and undecided voters had to of been personally touched and inspired by the prime time delivery of Michelle Obama.

The interaction of the Obama family was genuine and made you connect to their family. If personalizing Michelle and the Obama family was the main goal of night one, they hit it out of the park.

Carville cared about Cash just like his troll spouse.

Blue Tidal Wave

by Mac G on Tue Aug 26th, 2008 at 12:01:49 PM EST
Andrew Sullivan more or less agrees with me.  Now that;s a first.

A conservative is a man with two perfectly good legs who, however, has never learned how to walk forward. Franklin D. Roosevelt
by Steven D on Tue Aug 26th, 2008 at 10:20:36 AM EST
I think Carville has a legit point.  We need a conference which does three things:

  1. Explains in a clear and specific way the many things that have gone wrong over the last 8 years

  2. Explains that McCain would be more of the same

  3. Explains how Obama would improve.

While I enjoyed the Kennedy speech, it was unhelpful.  

Michelle's speech was fine.

We need some heavy hitters out there.  We have not had them, and I am concerned about tonight.  Warner has already said that he will be bi-partisan.  Really, fuck bi-partisan.  I WANT PARTISAN.

We do not need Democratic happy-talk.  We do need clear statements about how fucked-up the Republicans have made the country.

We need someone to bring the heavy lumber, and hit McCain out of the park with it.  Where was that on Monday?

by dataguy on Tue Aug 26th, 2008 at 10:40:07 AM EST
These points may be legit, but Carville needs to STFU with the criticism on national TV if he wants to be helpful to Obama, which he obviously doesn't.  Watch next week and see if any, ANY Republican talking head slams their convention.  There's something to be said for message discipline.  The Republicans have had it for a long time, and Obama's campaign has had it too.  
by RollaMO on Tue Aug 26th, 2008 at 11:22:12 AM EST
[ Parent ]
I agree that airing dirty linen on TV is counterproductive.  I hope that it drives the message home, however.
by dataguy on Tue Aug 26th, 2008 at 11:51:56 AM EST
[ Parent ]
It's not about you or what you want.  It's not about what any Obama supporter wants.  This is a four-day vehicle of persuasion for the uncommitted.

The number one weakness that Obama has is that a lot of people have misimpressions or prejudices about who he is.  Michelle provided counterprogramming.  It would have been a lead balloon if she'd come out attacking Republicans.  

Carville is an idiot who means us harm.

by BooMan on Tue Aug 26th, 2008 at 11:23:02 AM EST
[ Parent ]
I agree that Obama must do the sell.  However, part of the sell is to convince people that the opponent has bad goods.  I don't see that part.

Perhaps it will come out tonight.

I remember 2004, which was a 4 day snooze fest where Bush's name never came up.  That was a horrible mistake, and I am hoping that it is not to be repeated.

by dataguy on Tue Aug 26th, 2008 at 11:51:02 AM EST
[ Parent ]
i think the attack dogs roll out tonight
Hillary will probablynot only endorse Obama unconditionally  but launch into McCain and the GOP
if not, she doesn't belong there.
i think the DNC has a good cop bad cop plan here:
Michelle and barack will play nice and be "human" to appeal to the skeptics and the ignorant,
and the Clintons and Biden will focus on the GOP.

The sleep of reason begets tyrants. -Goya
by joe in oklahoma on Tue Aug 26th, 2008 at 11:28:47 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Warner, tonight's keynoter, has already said that he will be bi-partisan.

I am hoping that Hillary will bring the lumber.  We need someone with the big wood to do the big hammer on POW John.  He's getting away.

As Begala says, it's getting satori that counts.  We need to be driving the action, not responding to McCain.  Let's get the Repukes on the defense.  Remember, if you are explaining, you are losing.

by dataguy on Tue Aug 26th, 2008 at 11:49:20 AM EST
[ Parent ]
warner's got to cover his ass at home...

...Mark Warner, who is seeking the Senate seat of retiring Republican John Warner, a red-meat speech that would bring the party's most passionate warriors to their feet in Denver would undermine a carefully cultivated image at home that has given him a strong lead in statewide polls and a lopsided fundraising advantage.

link

having him in the senate is important, and l'm sure obama and everyone else understood this going in, or he wouldn't be there.

stop with the chicken-little bs...k.

the o man's campaign didn't get this far without knowing what they're doing. let'em do it their way.

the revolution will not be televised...

by dada on Tue Aug 26th, 2008 at 08:23:43 PM EST
[ Parent ]
dataguy,

Check out some data.  Read the Andrew Sullivan post linked to above.  

by Mum on Tue Aug 26th, 2008 at 08:16:42 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Carville is why Hillary lost and if he is Bill barking dog than Bill sabotaged Hillary. Because all the DLC bullshit wasn't going to work in this election. focusing on 51% instead of all 50 states, was a losing strategy.
by americanforliberty on Tue Aug 26th, 2008 at 11:37:45 AM EST
all the Clinton insiders are angry or depressed. this was supposed to be their Convention of Triumph and Reaffirmation, and an uppity colored guy took it away from them.
they no longer control the party, especially if Obama wins in November.
(thank God!)

The sleep of reason begets tyrants. -Goya
by joe in oklahoma on Tue Aug 26th, 2008 at 12:01:27 PM EST
[ Parent ]
The administration-in-waiting became a melange of tired old sycophants, hangers-on and yes-men|women.

Carville and the like need to be hit over the head repeatedly with these worthless PUMA ratfuckers.

My good friends, I ask my Party, I ask the Democratic Party, to march down the high road of progressive democracy. I ask this convention -- I ask this convention to say in unmistakable terms that we proudly hail, and we courageously support, our President and leader Harry Truman in his great fight for civil rights in America!

Hubert H. Humphrey - 1948 Democratic National Convention Address

by ILuvChez17 on Tue Aug 26th, 2008 at 12:17:14 PM EST
You said it!

And for all that Speaker Pelosi is really not a great speaker (as noted above), why the heck isn't Carville -- if he cared about the party he supposedly works for -- broadcasting her message everywhere?  How is this lacking?  (I think her speechwriter for this earned a bonus & that we should use his/her work to the fullest extent possible!)


Republicans say John McCain has experience. We say John McCain has the experience of being wrong.

On the failed Bush policies that have weakened our economy and taken us from the Clinton surplus to reckless Bush deficits and on raising the minimum wage for millions of American workers, Barack Obama is right and John McCain is wrong.  

On health care for 10 million American children and on protecting Medicare--a bill so crucial that Senator Ted Kennedy left his own medical treatment to cast the decisive vote--Barack Obama is right and John McCain is wrong.

On a future of American energy independence, investment in renewable clean energy, and millions of good-paying green jobs here at home, Barack Obama is right and John McCain is wrong.

And on the most important foreign policy decision of our time, the war in Iraq--a catastrophic mistake that has cost thousands of lives of our men and women in uniform and trillions of dollars, as well as has weakened our standing in the world and our capability to protect the American people, Barack Obama is right and John McCain is wrong. Very, very wrong.

[transcript from http://www.demconvention.com/nancy-pelosi/ , emphasis by me =-]

by Lyrebird on Tue Aug 26th, 2008 at 12:18:44 PM EST
Exactly.  Not every legislator is a gifted speaker.  I watch enough C-Span to testify to this.  However, the content of Pelosi's speech was right on.  This should be a bumper sticker - John McCain has the experience of being wrong.
by Mum on Tue Aug 26th, 2008 at 08:20:35 PM EST
[ Parent ]
But there was a message.  I assume that those who are saying there was no message and no attacks on McCain must have been watching CNN.  I understand their coverage was only slightly better than Fox's.  I watched CSPAN and it was clear the message was:
  1. Tie McCain to Bush (every speaker except Kennedy did this)
  2. Show America that black families are normal too.
  3. Re-introduce Michelle Obama to the American public
  4. Highlight Domestic issues, most importantly the economy (every speaker hit on this too).

You've have to be stupid or willingly daft to miss that.

~~~THIS SPACE FOR RENT~~~
by fabooj (fabooj [at} mail [dot} com) on Tue Aug 26th, 2008 at 12:19:54 PM EST
His ill-gotten pot of gold was never the reason he was in it. He's a hater more than a fighter. What has he ever fought for: money, power and "winning". Certainly not for people, for what's right, for you and me.

Likewise, the "good cop" George Staphinfection is, in his own way, a bitter loser in this cycle, also up to mischief as he subverts Obama's candidacy week by week.

I'd like to think Hillary and Bill, in their myopic selfishness, will come to see Obama's election as in their own interest. That's the only way they'll help rather than hurt. They could care less about the party.

Obama's going to come on strong, sooner rather than later, but he will do it out of genuine outrage, and for all the right reasons. Carville simply can't relate--it's not for sport.

by Fighting Bill on Tue Aug 26th, 2008 at 12:26:23 PM EST


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