Welcoming Democratic political strategist James Carville onto this week‘s episode of The Daily Beast Podcast, Samantha Bee asked the question on many minds—with less than two weeks until election day, how is it possible that the polls are so close? Carville‘s blunt response: “I don’t care.”
“I’m trying to help people put coalitions together, to stay focused, to do things to win,” he explained. But he’s not so interested in analyzing elections before they happen. “I’m not interpreting things. I’m trying to affect things.”
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Carville is best known for working on Bill Clinton’s 1992 presidential campaign and coining the phrase, “It’s the economy, stupid.” He recently published a New York Times op-ed sharing three reasons he’s “certain” Kamala Harris will win the White House next month.
But that doesn‘t mean he’s sold on her campaign. Speaking with Coles and Bee, Carville offered his own advice on what the Democratic candidate should be doing in the presidential race’s final days, and with early voting already underway in many states. Right now, Carville explained, her campaign is presenting two different ideas—that Donald Trump is an idiot, but also that he’s a threat to American democracy. Harris should pick one of those messages and stick with it, he argued. (Which one? Listen to find out.)
Coles and Bee were also joined by Daily Beast Special Correspondent Harry Lambert to discuss the disconcerting appeal of Joe Rogan to young men—and why the support of that voting bloc means he’s become a “kingmaker” in the election. They then discussed Coles appearance in New York magazine’s latest cover story on the state of media, and its leadership, in the US. After addressing the dubious headshot photo of her that featured therein, Coles suggested the magazine’s wide-ranging feature was “overshadowed” by its own media scandal— star political reporter Olivia Nuzzi’s dalliance with presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
To hear the whole story, watch the entire episode below.
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