Democratic strategist James Carville sharply criticized Rep. Jasmine Crockett’s Senate ambitions on his latest podcast, warning that her approach violates what he called essential voter-first politics. Speaking on Thursday’s episode of “Politics War Room,” Carville pushed back on co-host Al Hunt’s optimism that Crockett joining the race could boost Democratic prospects in Texas.
Hunt suggested that state Rep. James Talarico would be the strongest Democratic contender, saying, “If he ends up running against Ken Paxton, I like those odds.” Carville agreed Texas may offer more opportunity for Democrats than in years past, but argued Crockett is failing to connect with voters. “First of all, it seems like she’s well-educated. It seems like she’s got a lot of energy. But she, to me, she violates the first rule of politics, and that is, in politics, you always make it about the voters and never about yourself,” he said. “You listen to her talk. It’s a lot more about herself than it is the voters.”
Carville argued Crockett would better serve her party by mobilizing Democrats in competitive districts rather than running statewide from a seat that favors Democrats by 24 points. “You can stay in Congress as long as you want… but you’re not helping very much,” he said.
He pointed to Tennessee’s 7th District as an example of Democrats making unforced strategic errors, joking that the party had “gone into a lab” to “design the worst candidate that we could possibly run.”
Carville concluded that winning requires understanding voters’ priorities. “Winning elections is being part of framing issues and understanding where people are coming from, and I don’t think Congressman Crockett is very good at that.”
