Democratic strategist James Carville suggested that an excess of preachy women in the Democratic Party might be the reason behind President Biden losing support from important voters.
In an interview published Saturday with New York Times opinion columnist Maureen Dowd, Carville expressed worries about the culture of the Democratic Party and how it might be affecting Biden’s support, particularly among male voters.
“My suspicion is that there are too many preachy females … ‘Don’t drink beer, don’t watch football, don’t eat hamburgers, this is not good for you,'” he said. “The message is too feminine: ‘Everything you’re doing is destroying the planet. You’ve got to eat your peas.'”
Carville, who was a strategist for former President Clinton’s 1992 presidential campaign, argued that this culture and rhetoric aren't meeting the concerns of male voters.
“If you listen to Democratic elites — NPR is my go-to place for that — the entire conversation revolves around how women, and women of color, will determine this election. I'm like: ‘Well, 48 percent of the people who vote are males. Can they get some attention?
Regarding Biden’s low approval ratings, Carville joked, “When I look at these polling numbers, it’s like walking in on your grandma naked. You can’t get the image out of your mind.”
Carville has also recently expressed concerns about Biden’s declining support among voters of color and referred to it as a “problem” last week.
According to a Gallup poll released last month, the lead of Democrats as the preferred party of Black Americans has decreased by 20 points in the past three years, while their lead among Hispanic adults is at its lowest since 2011. A CBS News poll from last month revealed that Biden’s support among Black voters declined from 87 percent in 2020 to 76 percent this year.
Despite his concerns about the president’s campaign, Carville acknowledged that he “actually likes Biden.”
“He’s a resilient man who’s had a real-life experience. He’s a state school guy. He lacks any sense of elitism. He doesn’t even understand the concept of ‘woke’. He has been undeniably the best president that Black America has ever had, including Clinton and Obama,” he said. “If you examine incomes, employment, poverty rates, and access to healthcare, they aren't on par with those of white Americans, but they are closer than ever before.”
The Biden campaign is intensifying efforts to connect with voters of color and last week, it launched ads featuring Biden directly addressing Black voters in battleground states. The campaign argued that another term for former President Trump would be a “disaster” for this demographic.
The campaign subsequently announced a program to involve Latino voters, whom Biden referred to as “the reason why, in large part,” he defeated Trump in 2020 while gathering funds in Arizona last week.
The Hill reached out to the Biden campaign for further comment.
