James Carville Warns Democrats: ‘Messaging’ Needs to Improve for 2024 ‘Regardless’ of Midterm Results

Even if Democrats manage to have big success in the midterm elections, they still need to improve their messaging for the 2024 presidential election, Democratic strategist James Carville warned on Tuesday.

Appearing on MSNBC’s Morning Joe for Election Day, Carville criticized both his own party and the media for not preparing voters enough, arguing many casting ballots believe Democrats will “defund the police,” which Carville insisted will not happen.

“The one thing that drives me nuts is that more people are going to vote today that think that if the Democrats have power, they will defund the police, which is demonstrably not true, than people who are voting today that think that if the Republicans get control of Congress, they’ll shut the government down to focus cuts on Social Security and Medicare, which is demonstrably true,” Carville said. “So I would criticize Democratic messaging and the media for letting people go to the polls with a massive misunderstanding of what the consequences of their votes are.”

Carville pointed to Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH), who is running against the Donald Trump-endorsed J.D. Vance for a Senate seat, as the best Democratic candidate at messaging this election cycle. Ryan notably took part in a Fox News town hall, referring to going on the network as needing to enter the “lion’s den.” On the eve of Election Day, Ryan raised a beer on MSNBC while predicting a victory for his campaign.

Still, the party needs to be “more focused,” he warned ahead of the next presidential election, when it is likely Trump will be running again.

Asked to expand on his “messaging” thoughts later, Carville said he’d prefer to “think about lunch” and “worry about dinner after,” but theorized Democrats’ willingness to change their messaging will be completely dependent on the results they receive in the midterms.

Watch above via MSNBC

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