# James Carville on the state of the election **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [February 7, 2020, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-carville-on-the-state-of-the-election/847597 "2020-02-07T19:31:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2020, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-carville-on-the-state-of-the-election/847597/161 "2020-02-10T03:23:15Z")
No problem. These are troubled times and also I assume we’re both drunk. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Thing\_Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@Thing\_Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing_Fish)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2020, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-carville-on-the-state-of-the-election/847597/162 "2020-02-10T03:28:12Z")
I represent that remark. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2020, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-carville-on-the-state-of-the-election/847597/163 "2020-02-10T19:07:59Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > There are a lot of them but not as many as you seem to think: 42% is still by far the largest single demographic unit in the nation, even if it’s not as big as it once was. ---
**Author:** ![Corry\_El](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecae2f/32.png) [@Corry\_El](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corry_El)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2020, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-carville-on-the-state-of-the-election/847597/164 "2020-02-11T14:35:05Z")
> [@Lamoral](#): > > I have never heard anyone say anything remotely resembling that sentiment, and I have talked to people ALL over the political spectrum including individuals so conservative and so enamored with Trump that it would make your head explode. I have never, ever heard anyone verbalize that idea. I’ve very often heard that sentiment in so many words when it comes to rich people. Let’s take more of what they have and divide it up. The people who say that think they have good reasons, and they probably rationalize that it’s much different than openly proposing to take stuff away from union members or whatever. But I don’t think anyone can deny it’s a commonly verbalized sentiment on the left, ever since there’s been a concept of a ‘left’. And the targets often in practice extend to people who might reasonably dispute that they are ‘rich’. For either case, though rich people or union members (just as example) there are varying opinions whether their relative good fortune comes at the expense of others. Again with rich people that’s a common belief on the left, no need to re-litigate it here. But also within economics there are differing opinions whether unionization, labor price fixing, basically operates like any other price fixing: in favor of the people fixing the price to the detriment of everyone else. Or, if there are secondary positive effects of unionization (economic, even social as in something to belong to rather than more isolated lives people tend to live now) that offset the price fixing inefficiency enough to make it a net positive for people other than the union members (not much doubt it makes union members better off at least in the short term…same as it would make supermarket owners better off at least in the short term if they were allowed to get together and fix grocery prices). ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2020, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-carville-on-the-state-of-the-election/847597/165 "2020-02-11T14:45:03Z")
I’ve heard people say about autoworker union jobs “Nobody should get paid $30/hour for putting bolts on a car” ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2020, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-carville-on-the-state-of-the-election/847597/166 "2020-02-11T15:11:02Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > Might better split that as “white and/or Christian.” There are a significant number of racial-minority Christians who also ascribe to the notion that Christians in America face persecution and are dismayed by what they see in Hollywood/the media/etc. I’m not sure where you’re going with this, but there does seem to be a [sharp political line between white Christians and non-white Christians.](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/FT_19.03.12_religiousGroupsTrump_smallMultiple640px_new.png?resize=640,603) ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2020, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-carville-on-the-state-of-the-election/847597/167 "2020-02-11T16:07:46Z")
> [@Nicest\_of\_the\_Damned](#): > > This gets an “OK, Boomer” award. OK Boomer is about the most self defeating thing you can say in politics. Boomers vote at much higher rates than any other group. They swing elections. So you can either listen to their concerns or you can lose elections. > [@](#): > > Leaving left and right out of it, student debt and things like the shortage of affordable housing and lack of good jobs are things affecting a large part of the population. These aren’t just kids, these are people now in their thirties and even forties. These are not problems that only developed in the last few years. The Democrats haven’t exactly been there for them. I happen to agree that free state college tuition can be a great thing electorally. After all most people have kids and grandkids that may face college expenses on their future. But the devil is in the details and forgiving existing college debt for investment bankers doesn’t seem necessary. > [@](#): > > I think winning them back is important, not just to win elections but to bring back the ideals I was brought up being told the Democrats stood for. Unfortunately I don’t know how long it would take to re-engage people. Ignoring them might in fact be a good short term strategy for winning. But I don’t think it’s a good long term one. That all depends on what you were told Democrats stood for. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2020, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-carville-on-the-state-of-the-election/847597/168 "2020-02-11T19:42:32Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > I hear two approaches: > > 1. Some folks saying, “We gotta start from a higher baseline, because then the psychopath won’t be able to reach it.” > 2. Other folks saying, “No, we gotta make the base strong and build it lower to the ground, because even though that’s exactly the plan that the psycho smashed up last time, it’s sure to work this time.” > > I’m not totally convinced the second group has the right of it. I don’t see either of those working. I’d vote that having psychotics act as a component of your internal structure is bad hiring practices. ---
**Author:** ![Nicest\_of\_the\_Damned](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/8baadc/32.png) [@Nicest\_of\_the\_Damned](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nicest_of_the_Damned)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2020, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-carville-on-the-state-of-the-election/847597/169 "2020-02-12T05:11:10Z")
> [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#): > > OK Boomer is about the most self defeating thing you can say in politics. Boomers vote at much higher rates than any other group. They swing elections. So you can either listen to their concerns or you can lose elections. Apparently what they are concerned about is making it difficult for those who came behind them to get much of what they got to take for granted. He is like the poster child for OK Boomer. You bet I am going to call him on it. Boomers also die at a higher rate. Who is going to replace them? > [@](#): > > I happen to agree that free state college tuition can be a great thing electorally. After all most people have kids and grandkids that may face college expenses on their future. But the devil is in the details and forgiving existing college debt for investment bankers doesn’t seem necessary. I don’t see anyone demanding 100% debt relief for everyone. There can be a discussion for what is the most fair way to go about it. For starters they could change bankruptcy laws so student loans could be discharged. This would also come with the punishment of damaging their credit scores if punishing them makes you feel better. But Carville doesn’t even want to have the discussion. > [@](#): > > That all depends on what you were told Democrats stood for. Well for a few things, the vulnerable, the working person and equal opportunity. Am I wrong? > **[Millennials Now Rival Boomers As A Political Force, But Will They Actually Vote?](https://www.npr.org/2016/05/16/478237882/millennials-now-rival-boomers-as-a-political-force-but-will-they-actually-vote)** > > The number of eligible millennial voters is now roughly on par with the number of eligible Baby Boomers. But, that potential has not translated into concrete votes yet. Here is an article from May, 2016. Millennials are catching up in numbers to Boomers. If Democrats don’t start winning over young voters the Republicans might. > [@](#): > > In fact, even though millennials lean Democratic, Donald Trump has actually won more raw votes from 18-29 year olds during the primaries so far than Clinton, according to exit poll estimates from CIRCLE. ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2020, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-carville-on-the-state-of-the-election/847597/170 "2020-02-14T17:26:25Z")
[Sanders calls Carville a political hack. Carville retorts: “At least I’m not a communist.”](https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/13/politics/bernie-sanders-james-carville-criticism/index.html?fbclid=IwAR1XfhfJBx4KFK5S84Y1PDJ2dZPZ71_tD-FIqs_2xutjc1bp1Yja9uADwTU) ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2020, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-carville-on-the-state-of-the-election/847597/171 "2020-02-14T17:28:34Z")
> [@Eonwe](#): > > [Sanders calls Carville a political hack. Carville retorts: “At least I’m not a communist.”](https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/13/politics/bernie-sanders-james-carville-criticism/index.html?fbclid=IwAR1XfhfJBx4KFK5S84Y1PDJ2dZPZ71_tD-FIqs_2xutjc1bp1Yja9uADwTU) What a hack, Trumpian response. I like Carville, but man is he being dumb here. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2020, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-carville-on-the-state-of-the-election/847597/172 "2020-02-14T17:42:05Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > What a hack, Trumpian response. I like Carville, but man is he being dumb here. But he’s still right. We can argue about the differences between communist, socialist and democratic socialist all day. All the republican PACs need to do to convince enough Americans that Bernie is the second coming of Lenin is to use his old clips. ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2020, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-carville-on-the-state-of-the-election/847597/173 "2020-02-14T17:58:53Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > But he’s still right. We can argue about the differences between communist, socialist and democratic socialist all day. All the republican PACs need to do to convince enough Americans that Bernie is the second coming of Lenin is to use his old clips. Hold on. Carville calls Sanders a communist, and you say he’s right? Sounds to me like the Republican PACs don’t need to do that much work to convince Americans that Sanders is a communist, if Democrats are equally eager to tell that story, and equally credulous when they hear it. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2020, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-carville-on-the-state-of-the-election/847597/174 "2020-02-14T18:04:56Z")
> [@Eonwe](#): > > Hold on. Carville calls Sanders a communist, and you say he’s right? > > Sounds to me like the Republican PACs don’t need to do that much work to convince Americans that Sanders is a communist, if Democrats are equally eager to tell that story, and equally credulous when they hear it. Yep, Sanders is doomed. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2020, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-carville-on-the-state-of-the-election/847597/175 "2020-02-14T18:05:11Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > But he’s still right. We can argue about the differences between communist, socialist and democratic socialist all day. All the republican PACs need to do to convince enough Americans that Bernie is the second coming of Lenin is to use his old clips. That’s nuts. Bernie’s advocating for policies like Canada, Denmark, Finland, etc. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2020, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-carville-on-the-state-of-the-election/847597/176 "2020-02-14T18:20:36Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > What a hack, Trumpian response. I like Carville, but man is he being dumb here. Nah, he’s right. I’m sorry, Bernie may end up taking over the Democratic party, but he hasn’t won hearts and minds. Sanders and his supporters believe that they will just eventually persuade people with the courage of their convictions, but they’re just totally blind. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2020, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-carville-on-the-state-of-the-election/847597/177 "2020-02-14T18:21:15Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > That’s nuts. Bernie’s advocating for policies like Canada, Denmark, Finland, etc. There are videos of Bernie praising Castro and other communist regimes. Sure most are old and he’s gotten a lot better about not expressing those kind of comments in recent years but do you really think that matters? Even if it was 30 years ago how do you think those videos will play in a place like Florida? And you are talking about policies? I’m talking about his own words coming back to bury him in 30 second increments on tv. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2020, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-carville-on-the-state-of-the-election/847597/178 "2020-02-14T18:21:40Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > That’s nuts. Bernie’s advocating for policies like Canada, Denmark, Finland, etc. Most Americans don’t want to be like Canada, Denmark, or Finland - we’re not even remotely the same kind of society. There are ways to improve the system without setting the apartment complex on fire. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2020, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-carville-on-the-state-of-the-election/847597/179 "2020-02-14T18:23:26Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > There are videos of Bernie praising Castro and other communist regimes. Sure most are old and he’s gotten a lot better about not expressing those kind of comments in recent years but do you really think that matters? Even if it was 30 years ago how do you think those videos will play in a place like Florida? And you are talking about policies? I’m talking about his own words coming back to bury him in 30 second increments on tv. And he still calls himself a ‘socialist’!!! It doesn’t get any worse. Sanders will be the living meme of the Democratic party that the Republicans have tried to use to label every single successful Democratic politician since time immemorial - okay, since the 1930s but you get the idea. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2020, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-carville-on-the-state-of-the-election/847597/180 "2020-02-14T18:31:25Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > Most Americans don’t want to be like Canada, Denmark, or Finland - we’re not even remotely the same kind of society. There are ways to improve the system without setting the apartment complex on fire. And even those who do (like me), don’t think Bernie will move us very far in that direction (or at all) in the remote chance he would get elected. I think we’ll make more progress with Pete or Amy in charge over the next four years than we would with Bernie. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-carville-on-the-state-of-the-election/847597.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-carville-on-the-state-of-the-election/847597.md?page=10)