James Carville Blasts Fellow Democrat Jasmine Crockett for Violating ‘First Rule of Politics’: ‘I’ll Be Very Frank’

Screenshot via Politicon

Longtime Democratic strategist James Carville accused Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) of breaking the “first rule of politics” following her announcement that she’s running for Senate.

On the Politics War Room podcast on Thursday, Carville and co-host Al Hunt expressed some hope for Democrats in the red state of Texas, but Carville laid out his problems with Crockett.

“First of all, it seems like she’s well-educated. It seems like she’s got a lot of energy. But she, to me, she violates the first rule of politics, and that is, in politics, you always make it about the voters and never about yourself,” Carville said.

Listening to Crockett, he argued, it’s clear that it’s “a lot more about herself than it is the voters.”

Carville added that Crockett can still be successful in her Senate run and recommended she collect the support of Democrats who have favored voting Republican.

“You can get all the hits. You can get all the clicks. You can get on all of the TV shows. You can get in as long as you’re polemic, but you’re not helping very much,” he said.

Carville still cautioned that “talking incessantly” about yourself is not what wins elections, and he hasn’t been impressed with Crockett’s “framing” and “understanding where people are coming from” on issues.

“We know what wins elections. We just do,” he said. “And what wins elections is not sitting there talking incessantly about yourself. Winning elections is not how many clicks you get or how much overnight fundraising you do. Winning elections is being part of framing issues and understanding where people are coming from, and I don’t think [Congresswoman] Crockett is very good at that. I’ll be very frank.”

Crockett, running with the slogan of “Texas Tough,” said she’s running for the Senate seat currently held by Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) because Democrats need a “bigger voice.” She vowed to focus on issues like affordability.

“There are a lot of people that said, ‘You gotta stay in the House. We need our voice. We need you there,” she told supporters this week. “And I understand. But what we need is a bigger voice.”