Carville: Dems ‘whine too much,’ need to highlight accomplishments ahead of midterms

James Carville, one of the most well-known strategists in the Democratic Party, on Sunday said that Democrats “whine too much,” arguing that the left could prevail if is changed its messaging because the Republican Party stands for nothing.

“Just quit being a whiny party and get out there and fight and tell people what you did, and tell people the exact truth,” Carville said on NBC’s “Meet the Press,“ saying that “a lot of the Democratic base has not been told or informed of the things that President Biden and this Congress has accomplished.”

Carville pointed to the president’s bipartisan infrastructure win and lower child poverty rates as examples of Democratic victories since Joe Biden took office. He said that, while he agrees with House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn on the importance of securing voting rights, it’s critical that the Democratic Party “soldier on” and inform the public of its accomplishments.

“What you do, Chuck, is you run on what you've got,” he told host Chuck Todd. “You don't run on what you didn't get. And the stuff you've got is pretty good. If they don't pass voting rights, if they don't pass Build Back Better, run on that in 2022.”

The Democratic Party could be in tough shape going into this year’s midterm elections, as Biden’s approval ratings have dropped amid rising Covid-19 cases and stalled voting rights legislation in Congress. But Carville said Republicans have no platform right now, “other than, ‘Let's relitigate the 2020 election,’ or, ‘Let's get back at Jamie Raskin’,” arguing that concrete accomplishments could give Democrats an edge if voters know about them. (Raskin, who is serving on the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riots, has been known to grill his Republican colleagues on the events of the insurrection.)

“And if inflation is still at 7 percent in November this year, we'll lose anyway,” Carville added, tempering the remarks. “But I don’t think — a lot of people don't think that's going to be the case.”

Carville is best known for his work on former President Bill Clinton’s successful 1992 presidential campaign, which catapulted him into the public eye. Todd asked Carville if there’s a lesson Biden can take from the tough times he helped Clinton through.

“Soldier on,” Carville responded. “You had a bad week, but you had a good year.” He added that “every president goes through this” and said that, if Democrats can brag about their accomplishments, “we'll end up with a better outcome. I promise you.”