It’s James Carville, Stupid!
Americast
BBC
4.3 • 3.1K Ratings
🗓️ 11 October 2024
⏱️ 32 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
James Carville, the influential Democrat strategist, and man behind Bill Clinton’s successful ’92 presidential campaign, is on Americast.
His message, ‘It’s the economy, stupid!’ is credited with some of that success.
He tells Justin what he thinks Kamala Harris’s message should be in 2024, and why he thinks her party’s campaign needs to be more aggressive.
And he talks about being the subject of a new documentary, Carville: Winning Is Everything, Stupid.
HOST * Justin Webb, Radio 4 presenter
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This episode was made by Chris Flynn with Rufus Gray. The technical producer was Jack Graysmark. The series producer is Purvee Pattni. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, music radio podcasts. |
| 0:04.7 | There's a famous phrase in American politics and it was invented by a strategist, the most famous |
| 0:09.9 | strategist in modern times. |
| 0:12.3 | The phrase is, it's the economy, stupid, the inventor, is James Carville. |
| 0:17.5 | He was Clinton's lead strategist back in 1992. He made sure that Clinton won where many in the party thought he didn't have a hope. |
| 0:26.0 | James Carville became a household name and that phrase it's the economy stupid went down in history because of its pithiness but also of course because in those days at least it was true it was the economy that won it for Bill Clinton and it was also the simplicity of the phrase. |
| 0:45.5 | So fast forward to now to Kamala Harris, to James Carville, who is still around, still advising, |
| 0:52.0 | what will it take for her to win. We have the man himself. Welcome |
| 0:56.5 | to Americast. |
| 0:58.0 | Americast from BBC News. |
| 1:02.8 | There was blood pouring everywhere and yet I had God on my side. |
| 1:07.7 | So I decided the best way forward is the past the torch for a new generation. |
| 1:11.5 | You think you just fell out of a coconut tree? |
| 1:14.4 | We're effectively run in this country |
| 1:16.4 | by a bunch of childless cat ladies. |
| 1:18.0 | You know it, you feel it. |
| 1:19.5 | These guys are creepy and yes, just weird as hell. |
| 1:22.1 | Let Trump, America mania, run wild brother. |
| 1:25.0 | Let us choose Joy! Hello, it's Justin, in the worldwide headquarters of Americast in London, England and I am on my own today but not for long because |
| 1:46.2 | James Carville is about to join me. James Carville who is in a sense the preeminent backroom person in American politics in modern times but also actually in many respects a front room person as well and he had lots to say during the course of the various Democratic campaigns that there have been but really |
| 2:03.7 | interestingly lots to say now about Joe Biden and specifically as well about what |
| 2:08.2 | Kamala Harris ought to be doing and there's a film that's just been made about James and about his life and very much about his views now. |
... |
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