The Left hasn’t learned their lesson. How many people have to get hurt before they stop?
Because now a big name Democrat strategist called for “aggressive rage” in an incriminating op-ed.
Carville’s Push for Democratic Economic Outrage
James Carville, the 81-year-old Democratic strategist famous for helping centrist figures like Bill Clinton win big in 1992, just dropped an opinion piece in The New York Times. He’s basically telling his party to crank up the volume on economic anger after their tough losses in recent elections.
Carville kicks things off by owning up to his age and past wins, but he claims he’s still got valuable advice to share—though some might wonder if he’s just trying to stay in the spotlight.
The Times paired his article with a cartoonish donkey image, which kind of sets a wild tone for his ideas. He suggests Democrats should take a page from New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s book on policies and how to talk to voters.
“It is time for Democrats to embrace a sweeping, aggressive, unvarnished, unapologetic and altogether unmistakable platform of pure economic rage,” Carville wrote. He calls this the way “out of the abyss,” stressing that “raging against the rigged, screwed-up, morally bankrupt system that gave us the cost-of-living crisis must be the centerpiece” of how they connect with people.
If they’re not “adamantly, even angrily, opposing the system,” he says, they won’t tap into folks’ worries and might just look like they’re part of the mess themselves—conveniently ignoring any role Democrats might have played in it.
Spotlight on Everyday Economic Struggles
Carville dives into the tough spots younger people are in, like sky-high housing prices from things like strict zoning rules, environmental checks, and building costs; spiking utility bills because of shortages partly from green policies; and food prices that were already steep before any new tariffs, tied to big federal spending back in 2021-2022.
He insists Democrats need to hammer away at these issues non-stop, warning, “If Democrats do not rage constantly and monomaniacally against these conditions, ‘we will continue to be viewed as part of it.’”
His suggestions seem to echo what some progressives are already pushing, which could help rally voters feeling the pinch—but it’s a bit rich coming from a guy who’s built his career on more moderate wins, potentially risking alienating the middle ground.
Rallying the Base and Nodding to History
Carville sounds pretty sure about getting urban and suburban voters to show up in the next midterms, based on what happened in 2018 and 2022. “Just as we did in 2018 and even in 2022, it’s all but certain that Democrats will turn out urban and suburban voters in the midterms, specifically the kind of people who vote regularly,” he wrote.
“At this point, it’s a d*mn near guarantee for our party, and we must continue to surge these voters.” But he admits this suburban swing is fairly new and not set in stone, and there’s not much proof these voters will go all-in on more radical ideas.
He takes a quick swipe at “woke” politics for smelling too much like “moral absolutism,” then wraps up with a dramatic historical vibe: “If you’re a student of history, the French Revolution is in the American wind.”
Ending with “Le peuple se lève,” it’s like he’s auditioning to hype up a revolt, but skeptics might see it as an old-timer grasping at relevance by stirring the pot rather than offering steady guidance.
