Carville: Stop Campaign Suicide

While researching another story, I came across the headline to a James Carville editorial that read, "Halt the political hara-kiri", and my heart skipped a beat! I got that feeling creeping up my leg like Chris Matthews. Carville, an outspoken Democratic strategist and longtime Clinton loyalist, has finally come around to my way of thinking, and is urging Hillary Clinton to stop campaigning against Barack Obama on issues where she herself is vulnerable to John McCain! Carville has a lot of influence with Clinton, she'll have to listen to him. It's not too late! Then I read the piece. Not so much:

Ms Power, a Pulitzer prize-winning author, professor of public policy at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government and senior foreign policy adviser to Barack Obama, was forced to resign after she referred to Hillary Clinton (whom I admire and am supporting) as a "monster". She tried to retract her statement but, being unable to declare something off the record ex post facto (do the Scots even have journalism rules?), her words were printed.

What is becoming a shamefully predictable brouhaha ensued. To prevent her candidate from further embarrassment, Ms Power performed the ritual act of American political hara-kiri and resigned.

After I got over my profound sense of disappointment, I read the rest of it, and I have to agree with Carville, although he's a little late with his forgiveness of Power. Since Hillary is tipping the loose-cannon scale by a wide margin, I have to question Carville's motives a little, but his point is still a good one.

I don't think someone should have to resign every time there's a dustup, there are degrees. I don't think there is much in this campaign that really warranted anyone's resignation, but it just became the "thing", like, "OK, is that what we're doing now? Wearing legwarmers?"

I also really liked his characterization of Geraldine Ferraro's remarks:

Or this week, we had Geraldine Ferraro, another Clinton volunteer, popping off with some late-night bar room logic. Rather than having to resign, as she has just done, she should have been dispatched to a cruise ship for a few weeks of sightseeing and spa treatments. I hear Antarctica is a popular destination this time of year.

Good stuff. I've always liked Carville. He's one of the few consultant-class Democrats who knows anything at all about fighting. I wish like hell he'd been saying what I thought he was.