James Carville Admits He Was Wrong About A Kamala Harris Victory, Offers Dems Advice

Longtime political strategist James Carville acknowledged Thursday that he was wrong in predicting Vice President Kamala Harris would win the election, and offered suggestions on how Democrats can move forward following President-elect Donald Trump’s victory.

“We lost for one very simple reason: It was, it is and it always will be the economy, stupid,” Carville, 80, wrote in an opinion piece for The New York Times, echoing his popular catchphrase.

Carville, nicknamed the “Ragin’ Cajun,” was a top strategist in Bill Clinton’s presidential campaign in the 1990s. He also reportedly played a role in President Joe Biden’s decision to drop out of the presidential race last year before passing the baton to Harris, who ultimately lost to Trump.

“Mr. Trump, for the first time in his political career, decisively won by seizing a swath of middle-class and low-income voters focused on the economy. Democrats have flat-out lost the economic narrative,” Carville wrote in his Times piece. “The only path to electoral salvation is to take it back. Perception is everything in politics, and a lot of Americans perceive us as out to lunch on the economy — not feeling their pain or caring too much about other things instead.”

Carville called on Democrats to “force Republicans to oppose us” over the next several years as they accentuate certain problems — such as immigration and the overturning of Roe v. Wade — as economic issues.

“This year the Democratic Party leadership must convene and publish a creative, popular and bold economic agenda and proactively take back our economic turf,” Carville wrote. “Go big, go populist, stick to economic progress and force them to oppose what they cannot be for.”

He also urged Democrats to shift their focus from Trump and his extremist movement to the Republican Party as a whole, especially since Trump cannot be elected for a third time. Carville claimed that the Democratic Party and its 2028 presidential nominee must also be adept at getting information out to the general population as the media landscape evolves — particularly through podcasts.

“The road ahead will not be easy, but there are no two roads to choose from,” Carville wrote. “The path forward could not be more certain: We live or die by winning public perception of the economy.”

Trump is set to return to the White House on Jan. 20.

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