James Carville Needs to Woo-Sah: A Lesson in Big Tent Politics and Democratic Legitimacy

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Kristoffer Ealy

Let me be upfront about something before I start roasting James Carville. I actually understand where he’s coming from. The anxiety he’s expressing about the direction of the Democratic Party is not entirely imagined. There are real ideological tensions inside this coalition, real disagreements about strategy, and real questions about what kind of party Democrats want to be heading into November and beyond.

None of that is crazy. I teach political behavior for a living, so I spend an unhealthy amount of time thinking about exactly these kinds of intraparty fights. But understanding where someone is coming from does not obligate me to pretend they have not wandered off the map. And this week, James Carville wandered.

And with all of that understood and fully acknowledged — James Carville needs to take a deep breath, find his inner peace, woo-sah, and sit down. Because what we witnessed this week was not a hostile takeover. What we witnessed was democracy.

On June 23, 2026, three candidates backed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani swept their Democratic primary races. Former City Comptroller Brad Lander defeated incumbent Rep. Dan Goldman in New York’s 10th Congressional District. Community organizer and democratic socialist Darializa Avila Chevalier knocked off five-term incumbent Rep. Adriano Espaillat in the 13th Congressional District. And State Assemblywoman Claire Valdez won the open race to succeed retiring Rep. Nydia Velázquez in the 7th Congressional District. All three districts are heavily Democratic. All three candidates are now the Democratic nominees heading into November. The establishment — including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries — backed the losing side in multiple races. And judging by some of the reactions afterward, you would have thought Mamdani had personally repossessed Democratic headquarters, hung a portrait of Karl Marx in the lobby, and started assigning everyone to a neighborhood collective.

https://www.lincolnsquare.media/p/james-carville-needs-to-woo-sah-a

[wcmagumba]

1. James Carville is irrelevant...to me anyway...

[Bluetus]

2. Can the party grass roots get into the tent?

The tent seems to have wandered off on its own course.

Maybe a better question is, can the grass roots get into the tent without having to accept all the right wing positions?

[msongs]

3. 3rd party view - throw rocks at dems and claim they are as bad as republicans, then run

in democratic primaries. doh!

[displacedvermoter]

4. And win in them, apparently...

So they apparently connected with these Democratic voters, right?

[slightlv]

5. I don't see the above message as touting a third party...

simply lamenting all the decades we progressives were told to sit down, shut up, and let the BIG boys do all the talking and policy making! Hell, WE had ONE seat at the ACA tables, and they even yanked that away from us moments before being seated formally.

I think most of us here, no matter how fanatically we are attached to our personal feelings... will vote D on any and all lines of a ballot in the hopes of creating a "more perfect union." (and kicking out the repugs.) But in a primary, you bet I do my homework on who is running for what, and what kind of words pop out at me in judicial papers they may have authored, votes they voted on or against, etc. It's a LOT of work for how little stamina I have and leaves my hand screaming with arthritis. Usually takes me more than a few days to get it done. Then I print the list and give a copy to hubby... since he can't remember who's who, and we've found at 40 years of marriage, we voted the same way nearly every single time.

A hand raising is not a vote for 3rd parties. It is a reminder WE are still here; we're not going anywhere; and we wish you'd stop lumping us in with anarchs. We call our selves progressive because we want better futures for everyone; bodily autonomy for everyone, with freedom and equality for all... like the Constitution states. And a red letter first day of taking down the damned license plate/car make/sticker ID flock readers! We also think healthcare is a right, although the R's have been working to make it once and for all a "privilege".... one that you don't have.

I don't think I've said anything against D's running anywhere. I'm up in the air about Prez. But I call tell you, I'm damned sure NOT voting Repug or third party that would hand it over to the R's. The R's should be shown the great blue wave that is coming for them.