OPINION:
James Carville, the sharp-tongued Democratic strategist known for his colorful tirades and unmatched ability to say what everyone’s thinking (but shouldn’t), has acknowledged that President Trump’s breakneck pace in his second term is leaving Democrats in a complete daze.
On an episode of his podcast, “Politics War Room,” last week, Mr. Carville confessed to co-host Al Hunt that the Democratic Party is failing to keep up. “We’re getting overwhelmed,” he said, clearly exasperated. “Things that we thought would kill a political career, this guy shrugs off and keeps chugging along.”
It appears that the Democrats have been left playing checkers while Mr. Trump has mastered 4D chess. Or, as former Trump whisperer Steve Bannon once eloquently put it, “flood the zone with s—-.” According to Mr. Carville, Mr. Bannon’s strategy is working a little too well. “We’re flooded in s—-, and we’re still searching for a way to shovel it out,” Mr. Carville said, summing up the party’s state with Cajun frankness.
Oh, how tangled the web has become. “I can’t even tell what’s going on anymore. I’m struggling. Maybe someone smarter than me can figure this out because it’s all just … incomprehensible,” Mr. Carville said.
Mr. Carville’s take was similar to that of political pundit Andrew Sullivan, who also said Mr. Trump was trying to flood the zone. “The words ‘shock and awe’ describe the first month of the second Trump administration pretty well, it seems to me,” he wrote in a recent piece. “It’s been a blitzkrieg of executive orders, mass firings, violations of laws and norms, wanton cruelty for the sick, destitute, and hungry, and performative administrative chaos as far as the eye can see — all designed to paralyze and stun what’s left of the opposition.”
It’s not just Mr. Trump that Mr. Carville aims at; he has (as always) plenty of ammunition for his own party. He pointed to a recent Democratic National Committee meeting that went viral — not for the reasons the party might want. Some overly woke policies have led him to believe there’s an undercover “plant” deliberately sabotaging the Democrats from within.
“It’s stunningly stupid,” Mr. Carville lamented. “Like, how many jacka— things can we possibly add to our platform?”
If someone is sabotaging the Democrats, they seem to be doing a wonderful job. Might it be time to stop searching for the mystery saboteur and start looking in the mirror?
On the Republican side, Mr. Trump has shown no signs of slowing down. The man stomped into his second term as if auditioning for the lead role in “The Fast and the Furious 15.” Within weeks, he had signed a dizzying number of executive orders, launched investigations into government spending, slapped tariffs on several countries, and taken further measures to tighten U.S. borders — all while the Democrats were still trying to organize their talking points.
Former Democratic presidential candidate Dean Phillips hit the nail on the head this week in an interview with CNN, where he flat-out said, “Democrats are being steamrolled.”
If having Mr. Trump steamrolling the political opposition wasn’t enough, his right-hand man is none other than Department of Government Efficiency head — and part-time Twitter chaos agent — Elon Musk. “He has no accountability other than to Donald Trump, and that’s a frightening combination,” Mr. Phillips said.
Even the former Obama aides who hosted “Pod Save America” had to grudgingly give credit where credit was due. Mr. Trump and Mr. Musk’s relentless efficiency efforts, they said, have been surprisingly popular — especially with millennials and Generation Z. “It’s the kind of stuff we should’ve done,” said Jon Lovett, a former Obama speechwriter.
But Mr. Carville wasn’t finished. He signed off his podcast with one last plea for clarity. “I’m begging here, folks — can we get it together? Can someone smarter than me untangle what the heck is going on right now?”
One thing is clear: A recent Quinnipiac University poll showed favorable views of the Democratic Party at their lowest level ever and favorable views of the Republican Party at their highest. But Democrats appear determined not to learn from the 2024 election. As the new chairman of the Democratic National Committee, Ken Martin, said, “Anyone saying we need to start over with a new message is wrong.”
That should tell you everything you need to know about the Democratic Party.
• Joseph Curl covered the White House and politics for a decade for The Washington Times. He can be reached at josephcurl@gmail.com and on Twitter @josephcurl.
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