Democratic strategist James Carville doubled-down on his warning that "feminine" messaging is alienating male voters from the party.
On multiple instances, Carville has spoken about the rise of "preachy females" in Democratic messaging, warning that it alienates male and working-class voters. In a podcast interview with Donny Deutsch's "On Brand" podcast in June, he criticized the mentality of those who preach rhetoric like "‘Don’t eat hamburgers, don’t watch football, wear a condom.’ Like, man, sh--, leave me alone, OK? I’ve got a god---n life to lead."
At the Aspen Institute’s Aspen Ideas Festival Thursday, liberal journalist and MSNBC host Jonathan Capehart hosted Carville for a discussion titled, "Talking a Blue Streak: Have Democrats Forgotten How to Communicate?"
"When you start speaking in a language that people don't speak, they resent that, and if you start speaking like NPR, you're going to lose votes," Carville said, giving the example of asking men on the street in New Orleans, "Hey fellas, how are things in the communities of color today?"
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Carville echoed his past comments by slamming the mentality behind such sanctimonious rhetoric.
"‘We know what's best for you, don't eat hamburgers, don't watch football, don't drink beer.’ Guess where our young male number is going? In the toilet, alright? Because Democratic messaging, I'm sorry, is too feminine, it just is," he said.
Capehart read the comments from his appearance on Deutsch’s podcast for the audience and responded, "James, I get where you're coming from, but there are a lot of people who for whom you know… saying that there are too many ‘preachy females’ might sound like you're a 20th century man in a 21st century country that has changed."
Capehart challenged Carville to "talk to me and other people for whom what you said there is uncomfortable, maybe to some unconscionable."
"If you think about Democratic messaging, listen to NPR, read what comes out of there, alright? And you can see it, and I'm sorry, there are too many preachy females in Democratic campaign culture, and we come across to people as judgmental," Carville responded.
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To underline his point, he said, "If the proof is not in the pudding, look at the male number of people that identify as Democrats."
He then pivoted and argued that there are many Democrats who are actually willing to lose, purely so they can demonstrate their moral superiority.
"One of the things that I’ve found out, there are actually people who don't mind losing elections because it makes them feel better and superior. They ain’t nothing short of winning. That's what you're about. If you don't win you don't have sh--, you're just running around with talking points. Alright?," Carville said. "You don’t win elections by telling people their dietary habits are bad."
He argued that his comments were intended to "provoke a discussion" within the Democratic Party about its outreach and messaging.
