Veteran Democratic strategist James Carville delivered a blunt rebuke Thursday of the party’s far-left insurgency, warning that its most vocal figures are pulling Democrats away from the broader electorate.
“We get subjugated by some of the more outspoken people who, by the way, [are] not even Democrats,” Carville said during a video news conference.
He took particular aim at democratic socialists who use the party’s label while attacking it. “I wish they’d take the word Democrat out of their name. I have no idea why the democratic socialists — if you hate the Democratic Party so much, well, then don’t use our goddamn name. Go think of your own name,” Carville said.
Carville was among several speakers participating in a media event for the Promise To America, a platform of principles developed in part by two moderate House Democrats, Reps. Tom Suozzi of New York and Adam Gray of California, as the party wrestles with an internal fight over its identity and governing agenda.
According to its website, the Promise To America emphasizes “capitalism, safety, fiscal responsibility, effective government, common purpose, and patriotism.”
The effort marks another attempt by moderate and pragmatic Democrats to draw a sharper line between themselves and the socialist wing of the left, which has already defeated several establishment-backed Democrats in key races.
That Democratic divide has also become a major Republican campaign theme, with GOP candidates arguing that if Democrats prevail in the November midterms, they will pursue a far-left vision for the country that is out of step with most Americans.
Carville described the message behind the push as “just common sense” during the news conference.
“That’s so often what people are forgetting in politics. And for the life of me, I hope … that we do things like this that are popular, are actually helpful, that can help the country. Who’s not for lower crime? I mean, everybody is, but we just need to restate it,” he said.
He maintained that “80% of Democrats really want” what the Promise To America is promoting and criticized the far-left for drowning out those moderate voices.
But just 10 House Democrats have signed onto the pledge so far, which Republicans have argued is evidence that the far-left is really capturing its party. Out of the litany of Democrats running for the House, just five are signatories.
Suozzi argued, however, “We only want 10 members of Congress because we don’t want to make it only about Washington. That’s why we’re going out to the state and local officials.”
Those who have not signed on include House Democrats’ senior leaders, who have said little on the socialist insurgency.
But Gray and Suozzi dismissed the notion that they were not getting enough support from their leaders when asked by Fox News Digital.
“I think the leadership is being very supportive,” Suozzi said of his own experience. “They have a lot to balance. They’ve got the whole country to worry about.”
Gray said, “The efforts on the cable news networks and everything else to nationalize our politics all the time, pretend that, you know, somebody in some big city represents all of us is absurd. … It’s a distraction, this idea that somehow some leader somewhere is supposed to win my district.”
