James Carville Rips First Night Of Dem Convention

As the convention wound down to a close Monday evening, the Republican National Committee blasted out video of ex-Clinton strategist James Carville slighting the night's festivities. "If this party has a message," he said on CNN, "it's done a hell of a job hiding it tonight, I promise you that."

Pundits and analysts kicked around similar concerns, wondering whether the convention was too positive and not tough enough on John McCain and the Republicans.

My take: given the coordinated efforts to paint Michelle Obama as the angriest woman in America, the program on her night had to be positive. Not only her speech, but her lead-ins. Thus the love-in. Does anyone think that Hillary Clinton's night won't boast some sharper contrasts?

I emailed strategist and CNN talker Alex Castellanos to get his view. "I think tonight was fine," he wrote. "Tonight was defense, [meant to] fix the problems and open the door to Barack Obama for voters, so that tomorrow night they can start herding the voters through it with sharper attacks."

Castellanos offered another explanation for Monday's positive tone: the Kennedy moment. "It was important because it transferred to Obama the moral leadership of the Democratic Party, which the Kennedys -- not Clinton -- hold."

And it appears the conservative strategist was not totally resistant to Michelle Obama's charms, either, adding that she "may have helped a bit."

Comments

[JJeff88]

If James Carville wants to attack the Republicans, why doesn't he do it instead of making comments from the peanut gallery?

The four day event is organized along the lines of (1) Biography, (2) Bread & Butter, (3) Security/Global and (4) Obama Acceptance Speech.

The first day was (and should have been) devoted to "telling Barack's story" and reminding folks of what Democrats stand for. There will be plenty of time during today and Day 3 to blast the Republicans issue by issue. And my guess is that Sen. Obama will "dot the i" on GOP failures on Day 4.

Carville fails to recognize the trap being set by the Republican of getting bogged down in petty tit for tat that would obscure the most important objective of the Convention - to make average Americans more familiar and comfortable about Barack Obama and what he, Sen. Biden and all Democrats stand for.

This is why GOP surrogates are prancing around trying to bait Democrats into losing their focus with comments that "they escaped Scott Free on Day One" , ads directed at Clinton supporters and petty nonsense that Michelle didn't emphasize enough how she loved her country. It's all flak - designed to detract from the Convention itself.

Dems should continue doing what they're doing - there will be plenty of time during the rest of the Convention to blast the Republicans out of the water.

[wrightthewrong]

Well said!

[SheriChardonnay]

VERY WELL SAID!

[exhale09]

I don't think James Carvelle has "failed to recognise" anything. I believe he knows exactly what he is doing. A TRUE DEMOCRAT would not spend more time bashing his own Party's candidate, then he does the opposition.

[TheRebel82]

Carville is right to a point. Dems need to start attacking the last 8 years of terrible republican rule. Maybe last night wasnt that night for it. But today wednesday an thursday have to be it. They have to be tough and firece in their attacks too.

[SheriChardonnay]

and i think they will...but Carville should be on his fellow dem team not MSM team.....he could have shared his "concerns" in private but now this clintons KNOW what they are doing!

Howard Fineman said yesterday that someone close in the Clinton told him they were upset.....why tell that if you dont want the world to see the rift....you know the media is not going to hold back.

[classc 1]

Exactly. Carville is doing one thing and one thing only...trying to ensure an Obama loss and a Clinton run in 2012. He and the entire Clinton team are transparent. Between the statements of her top advisors about her allegedly not being vetted and these statements from Carville...that much should be clear by now.

[pkafin]

I think Carville truly wants Obama to win. Many posters here, in an ironic twist, are still obsessed with Hillary and are transferring that obsession onto (and into) everyone else's statements.

Look, if Carville was pissed that Hillary lost and, because of this, wanted Obama to lose, he'd NOT complain when things weren't going the way he thought they should. The man is a hard knuckled political animal. He would want the Democrats to go on the attack with a focused message. That's totally consistent with his character and style. The fact that he's getting mouthy about it actually shows he wants them to win (which, by the way is also consistent with his character; he's very partisan).

I thought the convention last night had a nice touch. Michelle gave an awesome speech; well written and well delivered. But, I don't begrudge Carville's frustration if he thinks that the Dems are not doing what they need to do to win.

[brizzle]

You said "Look, if Carville was pissed that Hillary lost and, because of this, wanted Obama to lose, he'd NOT complain when things weren't going the way he thought they should."

This does not follow. I can easily conceive of a situation in which Carville wants Obama to lose, all the while he (Carville) talks to cameras about all of Obama's deficiencies. Carville gets to talk and talk and talk, then when Obama loses, Carville can say "See, I told you all along."

So, yes...there is a case where Carville wants Obama to lose AND he complains. Your logic just does not compute. In fact, I would go so far as to say that your reference to posters here as "still obsessed with Hillary" is also wrong. But I don't have the time or the inclination to point out ALL of your mistakes...just the obvious ones.

Of course, I agree that Carville is a partisan and that he wants the Dems to win...even though he was a Hillary supporter.

[pkafin]

"I can easily conceive of a situation in which Carville wants Obama to lose, all the while he (Carville) talks to cameras about all of Obama's deficiencies."

Sure, I could see that too. However, Carville didn't complain one bit about Barak Obama last night. Barak Obama didn't speak last night. He complained about the Democrat's choices in organizing and planning the convention.

"But I don't have the time or the inclination to point out ALL of your mistakes...just the obvious ones."

-- Hmm, seems a bit overwrought when, in the end, you seem to agree with my well reasoned point:

"Of course, I agree that Carville is a partisan and that he wants the Dems to win...even though he was a Hillary supporter."

I didn't watch CNN last night, so I'm only going on what I've read regarding his comments. Perhaps there was something that screamed "Hillary 2012" in his body language. But, the impression I get is that he's chomping at the bit to see the Dems put up the kind of fight that he thinks is necessary to win this thing; the kind of fight that he thinks he led that twice brought victory to Bill.

I actually do think that most posters here who think his behavior has anything to do with wanting Obama to lose because it would benefit Hillary are projecting their own Hillary obsession into this.

[classc 1]

You've GOT to be kidding me. Yeah right....Obama's camp should listen to Carivale. Where was he when Hillary, on her way to her coronation, got spanked by a man whom allegedly lacks experience but somehow managed to not only out-fundraise her, but put together what most agree is the best ground team EVER assembled. If you notice, most of the noise on this issue has come from Republicans and former Clinton supporters. Please sit down somewhere James. Clearly, the Obama camp knows EXACTLY what they are doing. That's why you are now on the outside looking in!!!

[KDay]

Carville is still bitter he was apart of a LOSING team. GET OVER IT!

[bison1]

Sour grapes on Carville! He has been against Howard Dean's 50 state strategy. He has been against Howard Dean--now he is against the Convention. He is consistent!

[unity08]

Carville is so jealous of the new breed of campaigning that is the O style. He is stuck in 1992 when he and GS were the new wonder kids. Now he has become part of the problem. Established ideas with no sense of vision for the future. He believes everything should be as it was 16 years ago.

O's campaign strategy, style and discipline have served him well so far.
Take a bath James!

[GaNavy]

Right on target, unity. My 'takeaway' (to us the overused word du jour) from last night was 'Hillary who?' If Carville were that great, he'd be running someone's Senate or gubernatorial campaign. He and the Clintons are yesterday's news.

[dreffein]

Did you ever stop to think that maybe being a pundit pays more and has better hours than running a campaign?

[pkafin]

"O's campaign strategy, style and discipline have served him well so far. "

Yes it has; In the Democratic primaries. This is now the general election and Carville has a point. I don't think last night was anything to complain about. However, if the Dems don't pick a simple message and say it over and over again, they will not build momentum. If their message doesn't include a clear hash critique of the Republicans style of governance, they will lose yet another election that they would have won if folks actually voted, with their heads, on ideas.

[dreffein]

Agreed on the GE and the poll numbers support your comment. No Biden bounce, continued erosion of core Democratic supporters and independents. And aside from change, what is the message?

[RobertAndropolis]

CSPAN CSPAN CSPAN. Stop wasting you time and getting your bloodpressure up by watching self-aggrandizing pundits who know little if anything of what is really going on, and only live to create disturbance, especially Carville. Wasn't he supposed to retire or something to Lousiana with his equally offensive wife? He is as much a dinosaur as the two Clintons.

[wrightthewrong]

I loved the convention on CSPAN. No ads. No comments, ugly or flattering, just the convention. Remember when we used to think for ourselves? We used to make our own interpretation of what we saw -- it was amazing!! My husband had MSNBC on, watching it in the kitchen, but he ended up turning it off and coming in to watch it on CSPAN with me. It was great!

[brizzle]

Thanks for the tip. I'll try CSPAN tonight!

[Cos1]

What was really stupid was CNN showed a ticker tape continuously throughout their coverage that said "Uninterrupted and unfiltered coverage as they critiqued and showcased themselves all night. By the time someone acutally commented on the FACT that there was mention of McCain's policy's by people they didn't cover because they were to busy focusing on themselves, Wolf told the audience they could check it out on the CNN website. It is understandable why the Obama campaign is asking people to watch the convention coverage from their website or the internet. Watch it from the internet or CSpan. The media will ignore whoever else is speaking tonight and have total focus on Hillary, then rip her and Obama on Wed. Same will be done for Wed. when Bill speaks. We will hear nothing from them but what the Clintons did or said and then give their opinions about what the Obama campaign should have done for the next 3 or 4 days. After all, we all know that the Obama campaign won this election based on the words of the Clintons and the MSM running his campaign, Yeah right. Think about that. Obama will not get a fair shake in all of this from the MSM. It's a given. The thing is judging by the many blogs and water cooler discussions, the MSM is shooting themselves in the foot. People get turned off and won't come back.

[glimpse]

i think carville missed the point of the first night which was detailed in the DNC's schedule... it was a "getting to know Barack" night, not a "let's rip on mccain" night.

rip on mccain night is carville's strategy not necessarily barack's that night.

which strategy is best? who knows.

[SheriChardonnay]

i think how they are doing it is fine....folks, esp on the right keep saying they DONT KNOW BARACK...ok well lets get to him him....now the rest of the time will be about what he will do in contrast to McCain....there will be red meat...

[wdw101]

and blood?

[nunzia]

Carville is so OVER!
If he mattered, he'd be part of the campaign, not an overpaid talking head on one of those silly cable channels.
Is anything more irrelevant than a 24/7 chatterbox channel talking trivia all day long?

[aubrey8]

Carville pretty much tells it like it is. They better start defining the Republican Party tonight because they will sure as hell define the Democrats next week. You can bet the farm on that.

You people need to wake up to reality soon....it happens every four years for the benefit of those still wet behind the ears.

[RobertAndropolis]

You assume evidently that the Obama group has not thought of your strategy, and has now tactic to address the Republican shortcomings. How dillusional of you.

[wdw101]

"has now tactic to address the Republican shortcomings" have you been helping them ......wow.....please do

[pkafin]

You are correct. Every four years the Democratic party holds a convention and all the speakers talk about their candidate and the vision that he has for America.

Then, the Republicans have a convention and proceed to talk about the Democrat's candidate and all the awful thing that he has in store for America.

It's usually a losing battle for the Dems when it goes this way.

In Zel Miller's zany-ass speech at the 2004 Republican convention, He said Bush's name seven times. He said Kerry's name 16 times.

In one of the 2004 debates, the following was true:

"During the debate, Kerry's name was mentioned a total of 65 times. How many times was Bush's name mentioned? Answer -- 8. OK, but to be fair a lot of times Bush was referred to as the president. So let's add those mentions and see what we get. Total mentions of Bush by name or as the president, 35."

[Old Hippy]

Has everybody forgotten that Bush and his puppeteers, the Military/Industrial Complex
stole both the 2000 and 2004 elections. We can only hope that it doesn't happen in
2008

[brizzle]

I don't listen to anyone who addresses me as "You people..."

[ObamAtomic]

wdw101 haha! you are so Funny,,,,,,haha! oh haha! ah,haha!,
Can you see it,can you heard it,,,,,,,,,,haha!
Blinded by the light,,,,haha!!!!!!!!! ha!!! Deaf by the explosions of reality,haha
hahaha! YOU ARE VERY FUNNY,REAL FUNNY,HAHA!

[wdw101]

thank you

[ptarantino]

CSPAN had the best coverage.

[SheriChardonnay]

i agree...no talking from pundits!

[ThinkingCap]

If BO losses to McSame, which he is not going to, and many Americans feel that BO did not win because of the none support from the HRC camp and her gang, I feel she will be in for a big surprise in 012, with the non backing support from many Dems in the primary.

[dreffein]

What does this article have to do with HRC? And, HRC has outsupported Obama more than any so called Obama supporter. She has raised millions, campaigned for him in FL and NV while he was on vacation, called on her supporters to support Obama...If Obama loses, it's because he ran a poor campaign or failed to connect with the American people - not because of Hillary (but I suppose you also blame HRC for the earthquakes in China, the hurricanes in the Gulf....yawn).

[wrightthewrong]

I think HRC should be made the next supreme court justice, if Obama gets the chance. I think she would be wonderful -- women's issues would certainly benefit.

[wdw101]

no the earthquake was bush's......hurricanes were the fault of that wind bag gore......