The informal group is comprised of Democratic Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, Ayanna Pressley, and Ilhan Omar, but it used to be bigger. Former Reps. Jamaal Bowman and Cori Bush were defeated by other Democrats in the 2024 election, which highlights the point that Carville was making.
âIâve got a great idea,â he said sarcastically. âLetâs send an 83-year-old and a congresswoman from Queens out in the country.â
âYou know what they donât do? Win elections,â he said about Ocasio-Cortez and âIndependentâ far-left Sen. Bernie Sanders, who went around the nation on a âFight Oligarchyâ tour. âThey never beat a Republican!â
âThe progressives, all they do is impress other journalists. They never beat a Republican. Tell me when one body from that wing has ever run against a Republican. All right,â he said, noting that their left-wing views are out of touch with the vast majority of Americans.
âThatâs the problem. So everybody goes and says, okay, Bernie has run for president twice. He lost twice. He lost more the second time. But when I go on cable TV, or podcasts like this, the entire Democratic Party is AOC and Bernie. You know, Jackie Rosen doesnât exist,â he lamented.
âTammy Baldwin doesnât exist. Ruben Gallego doesnât exist. Alyssa Slotkin doesnât exist. I never get asked about them. What about AOC? What about it?â he complained.
A frustrated Carville said that there is âan abundance of potential candidatesâ for the 2028 presidential election from his side and that âthereâs a lot more to the Democratic Party than AOC and Bernie.â
Coles pressed him on the value of âname recognitionâ for people like Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Sanders, but Carville, who believes that the Democrats will be in prime position for victory in 2028 even as polls show the party with historically low approval, was not impressed.
âIâm not marginally worried about the nominee of the Democratic Party not being sufficiently known by election day. This is not even the summer of 2025. The election is in the fall of 2028,â he said.
âWhy in Godâs name do we have to articulate an entire program and an entire laundry list of potential presidential candidates? The answer is we do not. That is not necessary. Timing is everything. And so, well, okay, AOC has recognition,â the annoyed strategist said.
âYou know how many times on Fox News AOC is mentioned in a day? I have no idea. Go on. A ton. Right. And so she represents a plus-25 Democratic district. And every time that you see a Democrat that is out there screaming and pounding the podium, ask yourself, have you ever beat a Republican? Is that really? Because if you know me, you know that thereâs one and only one noble purpose in politics,â Carville said.
âAnd you know what that is? Winning the election. Okay. Thatâs why we exist. So weâre not going to win the election in the summer of 2025. We donât need to try. You know, what we have to do is set up ourselves as the party that is simply trying to help people who are trying to make it. And what theyâre trying to do is help people who already have it made. You know, youâre not going to achieve the American dream with a 7% mortgage rate,â the strategist said.
