Carvelle also predicted that he would be somebody important someday...that hasn't happened yet either.
Hey, what do you say you post your resume, and compare your accomplishments to Carville's? How many presidents have you elected?
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
James Carville
Born Chester James Carville, Jr.
October 25, 1944 (1944-10-25) (age 64)
Fort Benning, Georgia
Residence New Orleans, Louisiana
Education Louisiana State University
Occupation Political consultant,
Political science lecturer
Spouse(s) Mary Matalin (m. 1993present) «start: (1993)»"Marriage: Mary Matalin to James Carville" Location: (linkback:
James Carville - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)
Website
Official site
James Carville (born October 25, 1944) is an American political consultant, commentator, actor, attorney, media personality, and pundit. Carville gained national attention for his work as the lead strategist of the successful presidential campaign of then-Arkansas governor Bill Clinton. Carville was a co-host of CNN's Crossfire until its final broadcast in June 2005. Since its cancellation, he has appeared on CNN's news program, The Situation Room. As of 2009, he hosts a weekly program on XM Radio titled 60/20 Sports with Luke Russert, son of Tim Russert who hosted NBC's Meet The Press. He is married to Republican political consultant Mary Matalin. In 2009, he began teaching political science at Tulane University.
Early life and education
Carville, the oldest of eight children, was born Chester James Carville, Jr. at Fort Benning, Georgia, the son of Lucille (née Norman), a former school teacher who sold World Book Encyclopedias door-to-door, and Chester James Carville, a postmaster as well as owner of a general store. He has Irish and Cajun ancestry. James Carville was raised in Carville, Louisiana, and attended Ascension Catholic High School in Donaldsonville, Louisiana.
He graduated from Louisiana State University with undergraduate and law degrees.
Early career
Before entering politics, Carville worked as a litigator at a Baton Rouge law firm from 19731979, spent two years serving in the United States Marines, and worked as a high school teacher.
Prior to the Clinton campaign, Carville and consulting partner Paul Begala gained other well-known political victories, including the gubernatorial victories of Robert Casey of Pennsylvania in 1986, and Zell Miller of Georgia in 1990. But it was in 1991 when Carville and Begala rose to national attention, leading appointed incumbent Senator Harris Wofford of Pennsylvania back from a 40-point poll deficit over White House hand-picked candidate Dick Thornburgh. Also noteworthy is that Wofford's campaign was where the "it's the economy, stupid" strategy used by Bill Clinton in 1992 was first implemented.
Bill Clinton's 1992 Presidential campaign
In 1992, Carville helped lead Bill Clinton to a win against George H. W. Bush in the Presidential election. In 1993, Carville was honored as Campaign Manager of the Year by the American Association of Political Consultants. His role on the Clinton campaign was documented in the feature-length Academy Award-nominated film, The War Room. One of the formulations he used in that campaign has entered the language, derived from a list he posted in the war room to help focus himself and his staff, with these three points:
Change vs. more of the same.
The economy, stupid.
Don't forget health care.
Post-1992 political work
After 1992 Carville stopped working on domestic campaigns, stating that he would bring unneeded publicity, but he has worked on a number of foreign campaigns, including those of Prime Minister Tony Blair of the United Kingdom, Ehud Barak of Israel's Labor Party, and the Liberal Party of Canada. In 2002, Carville worked as a Greenberg Carville Shrum (GCS) strategist to help American-educated Bolivian Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada win the presidency in Bolivia which was portrayed in a documentary Our Brand Is Crisis.
Carville at an All the King's Men press conference in 2006 In 2004, he was brought in for last-minute consulting on Senator John Kerry's Presidential campaign, but he did not play a major role.
In 2005, Carville taught a semester of the course "Topics in American Politics" at Northern Virginia Community College. Among the guests he had come speak to the class were Al Hunt, Mark Halperin, Senator George Allen, George Stephanopoulos, Karl Strubel, Stan Greenberg, Tony Blankley, representatives from the Motion Picture Association of America, James Fallows.
In 2006, Carville switched gears from politics to sports and became a host on a sports show called 60/20 Sports on XM Satellite Radio with Luke Russert, son of NBC journalist Tim Russert. The show is an in-depth look at the culture of sports based on the ages of the two hosts (60 and 20). After the Democrats' victory in the 2006 midterm election, Carville criticized Howard Dean as Democratic National Committee Chair, calling for his ouster, as he believed Dean had not spent enough money. In late November 2006, Carville proposed a truce of sorts.
Carville is the executive producer of the 2006 film All the King's Men, starring Sean Penn and Anthony Hopkins, which is loosely based on the life of Louisiana Governor Huey Long.
Carville had believed that Al Gore, whom he helped put in the White House as vice president in 1992, would run for president in 2008. This prediction did not come true.
Carville has moved to New Orleans, and will teach at Tulane University as professor of practice starting spring semester of 2009.
On March 4, 2009, Politico reported that Carville, Paul Begala, and Rahm Emanuel were the architects of the Democratic Party's strategy to cast conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh as the face of the Republican Party. Carville was particularly critical of Limbaugh for saying he wanted Barack Obama to "fail." It was later reported that Carville had voiced the opinion, during the presidency of George W. Bush, that, "I dont care if people like him or not, just so they dont vote for him and his party. That is all I care about. I hope he doesnt succeed, but I am a partisan Democrat. But the average person wants him to succeed. It is his country, his life or their lives. So he has that going for him." Carville made the remarks on September 11, 2001, shortly before the terrorist attacks on the United States. Upon hearing news of the attacks, Carville asked reporters to "disregard" his prior comments.
Hillary Clinton's 2008 Presidential campaign
Main article: Hillary Clinton presidential campaign, 2008
As an advisor to Hillary Rodham Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign, Carville told The New York Times on March 22, 2008, that New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, who had just endorsed Senator Barack Obama for the Democratic nomination, was comparable to Judas Iscariot. It was "an act of betrayal," said Carville. "Mr. Richardsons endorsement came right around the anniversary of the day when Judas sold out for 30 pieces of silver, so I think the timing is appropriate, if ironic, Mr. Carville said, referring to Holy Week. Governor Richardson had served in President Bill Clinton's administration as both United States Ambassador to the United Nations and Secretary of Energy, and Carville believed that Richardson owed an endorsement to Senator Clinton in exchange for being offered those posts by her husband. Carville also claimed that Richardson assured many in the Clinton campaign that he would at least remain neutral and abstain from taking sides. Richardson refuted Carville's account, arguing that he had not made any promises to remain neutral. Richardson claims that his decision to endorse Obama was "clinched" by his speech on race relations following the swirl of controversy surrounding Obama's former pastor Jeremiah Wright. Carville went on to note,"I doubt if Governor Richardson and I will be terribly close in the future," Carville said, but "I've had my say...I got one in the wheelhouse and I tagged it."
Even as Clinton's campaign began to lose steam, Carville remained both loyal and positive in his public positions, rarely veering off message and stoutly defending the candidate. But on May 13, 2008, a few hours before the primary in West Virginia, Carville remarked to an audience at Furman University in South Carolina, "I'm for Senator Clinton, but I think the great likelihood is that Obama will be the nominee." The moment marked a shift from his previous and often determinedly optimistic comments about the state of Hillary's campaign.
After Barack Obama's clear lead for victory in the Democratic presidential campaign on June 3, James Carville said he was ready to open up his wallet to help Obama build a political war chest to take on John McCain in November.
Career as author
Carville is also a best-selling author. With his wife, Republican Mary Matalin, and writer Peter Knobler, Carville co-wrote All's Fair: Love, War and Running for President, published in 1995. He later wrote: We're Right, They're Wrong: A Handbook for Spirited Progressives, published in 1996; ...And The Horse He Rode In On: The People vs. Kenneth Starr, published in 1998; With Paul Begala he co-wrote Stickin. Suck Up, Buck Up... and Come Back When You Foul Up, in 2001, which detailed strategies for fighting and winning in business, politics, and life. In 2004, Carville released a political banter book entitled Had Enough?, as well as a children's picture book, Lu and the Swamp Ghost, with co-author Patricia McKissack and illustrator David Catrow. In January 2006, he released another book co-written with Begala, Take It Back: Our Party, Our Country, Our Future.
Carville's most recent book is entitled 40 More Years: How the Democrats Will Rule the Next Generation.
