James Carville

Chester James Carville Jr. (born October 25, 1944) is an American political consultant, author, and occasional actor who has strategized for candidates for public office in the United States and in at least 23 nations abroad.^[1] A Democrat, he is a pundit in U.S. elections who appears frequently on cable news programs, podcasts, and public speeches.

James Carville
Carville in 2011
Personal details
Born	Chester James Carville Jr. (1944-10-25) October 25, 1944 (age 79) Fort Benning, Georgia, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Mary Matalin ​ (m. 1993)​
Children	2
Residence(s)	New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S. Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, U.S.
Education	Louisiana State University (BS, JD)
Alma mater	Ascension Catholic High School
Nickname	Ragin’ Cajun
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch/service	United States Marine Corps
Years of service	1966–1968
Rank	Corporal

Nicknamed the "Ragin' Cajun",^[2] Carville gained national attention for his work as a lead strategist in Bill Clinton's winning 1992 Presidential campaign.^[3] Carville also had a principal role crafting strategy for three unsuccessful Democratic Party presidential contenders, including Massachusetts Senator John Kerry in 2004, New York Senator Hillary Clinton in 2008, and Colorado Senator Michael Bennet's campaign for the Democratic Party presidential nomination in 2020.

Early life and education

Carville was born on October 25, 1944, at a U.S. Army hospital at Georgia's Fort Benning, where his father was stationed during World War II.^[4] His mother, Lucille (née Normand), stayed behind in Carville, Louisiana, where James was raised, but went to Ft. Benning long enough to have her firstborn son. Carville would later note: "We were availing ourselves to free government health services."^[5] Lucille Carville, a former school teacher, spoke French at home, and sold the World Book Encyclopedia door-to-door, and his father, Chester James Carville Sr., was a postmaster as well as owner of a general store.^[6][7][8]

 

Carville, Louisiana, on the Mississippi River

Carville, Louisiana, a neighborhood in the city of St. Gabriel, in Iberville Parish, located sixteen miles south of the capital city of Baton Rouge on the Mississippi River, was named after his paternal grandfather, Louis Arthur Carville, who was once the postmaster.^[9] Louis Arthur's mother, Octavia Dehon, was of Belgian parentage and had married John Madison Carville, described in a biography as "Irish-born" and a "carpetbagger,"^[10] both of whom established the general store operated by the family in Carville, in 1882.^[11] Carville has seven siblings (Bonnie, Mary Ann, Gail, Pat, Steve, Bill, and Angela.).

Among Carville's earliest political campaign work was ripping down the campaign signs of a candidate for public office during his high school years.^[12] Carville graduated from Ascension Catholic High School in Donaldsonville, Louisiana, in 1962.^[13][7]

He attended Louisiana State University (LSU) from 1962 to 1966, but did not graduate at that time. In a 1994 feature in Newsweek, Carville characterized himself as "something less than an attentive scholar. I had fifty-six hours' worth of Fs before LSU finally threw me out."

Carville served a two-year enlistment in the United States Marine Corps, from 1966 to 1968, where he was stationed stateside, at Camp Pendleton in San Diego.^[13] He achieved the rank of Corporal.^[14]

Following the conclusion of his military enlistment, Carville finished his studies at LSU at night, where he earned his Bachelor of Science degree in General Studies in 1970 and his Juris Doctor degree in 1973.^[15] Carville is a member of the Sigma Nu fraternity.^[16][17] He later worked as a junior high school science teacher. Before entering politics, Carville worked as an attorney at McKernnan, Beychok, Screen and Pierson, a Baton Rouge law firm, from 1973 to 1979.^[13]

Political consulting in the United States 1970s to 1990s

Carville was trained in consulting by Gus Weill, who in 1958 had opened the first advertising firm that specialized in political campaigns in the state capital in Baton Rouge.^[18]

East Baton Rouge Parish, 1970s and 1980s

In a 2012 piece he wrote for Foreign Affairs, Carville described one of his earliest political jobs distributing "hate sheets" with negative literature on a political opponent at grocery stores on behalf of Ossie Bluege Brown, during Brown's 1972 campaign for district attorney of East Baton Rouge Parish.^[19] Two years earlier, Brown had defended Staff Sergeant David Mitchell, the first of 17 soldiers charged in connection with the deaths of villagers during the Mỹ Lai massacre.^[20] Brown's tenure as D.A. was marked by his crusades against narcotics and pornography. In 1973, Brown prevented Baton Rouge theaters from showing Bernardo Bertolucci's X-rated film, Last Tango in Paris, In 1979, Brown blocked the showing of the comedy, Monty Python's Life of Brian. Brown asked Baton Rouge magazine distributors not to offer the March 1977 issue of Hustler, which a state court judge in Ohio ruled obscene.^[21]

In addition to his work as an attorney, in the late 1970s, Carville also worked for Gus Weill & Ray Strother's Weill-Strother,^[22] a Baton-Rouge-based political consulting firm that, over the years, had assisted with electoral campaigns and political messaging for Louisiana governors Jimmie Davis, John McKeithen, Edwin Edwards, and U.S. Representative Otto Passman.^[23]

In the early 1980s, Carville served as executive assistant to East Baton Rouge Parish mayor-president Pat Screen.^[24]

In early 1985, Carville consulted to help Cathy Long win a special election to central Louisiana's now defunct 8th congressional district, following the death of her husband, Gillis William Long, of Louisiana's Long family political dynasty.^[25]

Texas senate race, 1984

Further information: 1984 United States Senate election in Texas

 

Lloyd Doggett (at podium, red tie) with Phil Gramm (far left, blue tie)

In 1984, Carville became acquainted with his consulting partner Paul Begala when Carville managed then Texas state legislator Lloyd Doggett's unsuccessful campaign for the open Texas Senate seat. Carville helped Doggett, an unabashed liberal and committed enemy of special interests,^[26] secure the Democratic nomination in a primary that included conservative U.S. Representative Kent Hance, and centrist former congressman Bob Krueger. During the primary, Carville borrowed a rubber vertebrae exhibit from a friend who was a personal injury attorney, and coached Doggett on using it as a prop on the stump to attack Krueger as a political flip flopper who lacked resolve and "backbone."^[27]

During the general election, Doggett's opponent, Phil Gramm, leveraged vicious identity-based attacks on Doggett. On one occasion, Doggett ended up returning small dollar fundraising he received from a gay rights group.^[28] Gramm emphasized themes of "family values," including his insistence at a June 1984 prayer breakfast on "having people who believe in Christianity in charge of government," and Carville counter-punched that theme as antisemitic.^[29] Doggett was defeated in the general election, polling 2,207,557 votes (41.5 percent), to Gramm's 3,116,348 votes (58.5 percent).

Finding himself out of work after the November 1984 defeat, Carville recalled, "I was scared to death, I was 40 years old, and didn't have any health insurance, I didn't have any money, I was mortified."^[30]

Pennsylvania gubernatorial election, 1986

Further information: 1986 Pennsylvania gubernatorial election

 

Pennsylvania Governor Bob Casey Sr. in 1986

Carville helped Bob Casey Sr. win election as the 42nd Governor of Pennsylvania in 1986. Casey defeated Philadelphia District Attorney Ed Rendell in the Democratic primary in March, 56.5% to 39.6%.^[31]

In the general election, Casey's Republican opponent, Lieutenant Governor Bill Scranton, took the lead in the polls after announcing that his campaign was pulling all negative ads and challenging Casey to do the same. However, the Scranton campaign misstepped by sending a mailer to 600,000 Republican voters that, in addition to a letter from Scranton's father, former Pennsylvania Governor and U.N. Ambassador William Scranton, included a brochure harshly attacking Casey's ethics.

Carville – who, The New York Times would later write, was brought into the campaign to "ramp up the aggression level" – began to counter, contacting journalists and characterizing the mailer as outrageous. Scranton claimed that he did not know about the mailing, so Carville ordered 600,000 blank envelopes, loaded them onto a truck and dumped them onto a street corner near Scranton's campaign headquarters. Television cameras captured the campaign, asking: "How could you send out this many envelopes and not know about it?"^[32] Three weeks before the election, a poster appeared statewide, depicting Scranton as a "long-haired, dope smoking hippie."^[33]

The race was virtually tied until five days before the election, when Carville launched the "guru," a TV commercial that portrayed Scranton as having been a regular drug user during the 1960s, also mocking Scranton's interest in transcendental meditation and his ties to Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.^[34] The image of Scranton as a meditating, long-haired, dope-smoking hippie, with a background of sitar music, was credited with tipping the scales against Scranton in the socially conservative rural sections of Pennsylvania where Carville selectively decided to run the "guru" TV commercial.^[35] Casey went on to win the election by a narrow margin of 79,216 out of 3.3 million total votes cast, or 50.7% of the vote to Scranton's 48.4%.^[36]

Kentucky gubernatorial contest, 1987

Further information: 1987 Kentucky gubernatorial election

In 1987, Carville worked as a campaign manager to cast Kentucky businessman Wallace Wilkinson as a self-made millionaire anti-establishment gubernatorial candidate.^[37] Wilkinson, who had made his fortune in retail, and real estate development, and who was sued for not paying overtime to his employees, and refused to release his tax returns to the public,^[38] charged his Democratic primary opponents with wanting to raise taxes, and continually campaigned on creating a state lottery to raise public revenue.

During the general election portion of the campaign, on September 25th, 1987, Carville appeared on WLEX-TV's "Your Government" public affairs program, and implored reporters to look into the background of Wilkinson's opponent John Harper's family, noting: "there might be problems with some of Harper's children."^[39] After the incident, Harper confirmed that his son had been shot and killed by Franklin County, Ohio, police during a 1978 pharmacy robbery.^[40] Wilkinson won the general election polling 504,674 votes (64.5%) to Harper's 273,141 (34.91%),^[41] and, as Kentucky's 57th governor, secured passage of a state constitutional amendment to allow a lottery.

New Jersey senatorial contest, 1988

Carville served as campaign manager to New Jersey U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg during Lautenberg's successful 1988 re-election campaign.^[42] Carville and his partner Paul Begala both led Lautenberg successful campaign against Republican challenger Pete Dawkins, a Brigadier General and former Heisman Trophy winner who had Roger Stone as a consultant.^[43]

Georgia gubernatorial contest, 1990

Further information: 1990 Georgia gubernatorial election

 

Georgia Governor Zell Miller with President Bill Clinton

In 1989 and 1990, Carville assisted conservative Democrat and four-term lieutenant governor Zell Miller in winning the state party's gubernatorial nomination in a five-candidate contest that included Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young, then-state senator Roy Barnes, and former governor Lester Maddox.

Miller campaigned on a platform of shock incarceration boot camps for first-time drug offenders, blasted Young for "an explosion of crime" in Atlanta, and painted Young with wanting to "run away from" the issue of drugs.^[44] At Carville's counseling,^[45] Miller made a state lottery in lieu of state tax increases a central theme of his campaign.^[46] Carville attributed Miller's eleven-point primary victory over Young to the attraction of the lottery issue and its capacity to turn out white suburban voters. "Zell Miller was able to set the agenda, and the agenda was the lottery", Carville noted at the time.^[47]

Miller won the nominating contest in the August 1990 runoff against Young, and later defeated Johnny Isakson in the November 1990 general election. Miller was later a keynote speaker at the 1992 Democratic National Convention and the 2004 Republican National Convention.

Texas gubernatorial election, 1990

 

Texas Attorney General Jim Mattox

Carville consulted in 1990 for former Texas Congressman and sitting state Attorney General Jim Mattox, a bare-knuckled political brawler who routinely traveled to Huntsville to attend state executions in Texas, the most active state in carrying out the death penalty. On advice from Carville, Mattox, who was seeking the Democratic gubernatorial nomination that year, based his campaign on the claim that a state lottery would solve Texas' revenue needs without additional state taxes.^[48]

With no facts to support the charge, Mattox also ran a television advertisement accusing his primary opponent, State Treasurer Ann Richards, a recovering alcoholic, of being a cannabis and cocaine user who might falter in fulfilling the responsibilities of being governor.^[49][50] In losing the nominating contest to Richards, Mattox gained a reputation as a combative campaigner.^[51]

Pennsylvania special senatorial election, 1991

Further information: 1991 United States Senate special election in Pennsylvania

 

Pennsylvania U.S. Senator Harris Wofford

In 1991, Carville consulted for Harris Wofford in his run for the open U.S. Senate seat left vacant when Senator John Heinz was killed in an April, 1991 plane crash. Following the crash, Carville, who was by then a close political confidant of Governor Casey, hatched a plan to offer his appointment of the Senate seat to Chrysler chairman Lee Iacocca, an Allentown native who declined the offer within 24 hours.^[52] Attorney and later Pittsburgh Steelers owner Art Rooney II was also considered, but Casey ultimately decided to appoint Wofford, then his state Secretary of Labor, to fill the seat, and Wofford faced a special election in November of that year.

Against the national backdrop of the first Gulf War, and a dour economy, Wofford's general election opponent, George H.W. Bush's sitting U.S. Attorney General, Dick Thornburgh, was widely seen as a surrogate of the Bush political machine, and the contest was widely viewed as an early referendum on Bush's reelection prospects the following year.^[53]

Wofford was one of the first whites to graduate from Howard University school of law, travelled to India and wrote a book on Gandhi, co-founded the Peace Corps, and was arrested at the 1968 Democratic National Convention for disorderly conduct, and was an opponent of apartheid. A philosophical progressive, and college president, he had served as an aide to both John F. Kennedy,^[54] and a friend and adviser to Martin Luther King Jr.^[55] Wofford had the air of an "anti-politician," rumpled in appearance, and uncomfortable with small talk who ran a campaign with themes of economic populism.^[56]

Though the issue polled a distant 5th in voter concerns, Wofford himself eschewed guidance from his consultants in demanding national health insurance be the centerpiece of his campaign. With the assistance of a guild of Philadelphia ophthalmologists, Wofford crafted an impactful slogan: "If criminals have access to a lawyer, working Americans should have a right to a doctor."^[57]

During the race, Carville helped Wofford craft an aggressive campaign, ^[58] with television advertisements attacking Thornburgh for taking expensive flights at public expense in government jets to junkets in places such as Hawaii. Another Wofford campaign commercial evoked an anti-establishmentarian air, linking Thornburgh to "the mess in Washington."^[59]

In the months leading into the election, Wofford overcame Thornburgh's 44 point lead in the polls and defeated him in November, garnering 1,860,760 votes (55 percent), to Thornburgh's 1,521,986 (45 percent).

Wofford's surprise victory helped earn Carville national attention, with the Democratic Party now seeing him as hope that he could now help the party win the White House in 1992 U.S. Presidential election.^[59]

Carville again consulted for Wofford's re-election campaign in 1994 when he was narrowly defeated by Republican Rick Santorum.

Los Angeles mayoral election, 1992–1993

Further information: 1993 Los Angeles mayoral election

In late 1992, and early 1993, Carville consulted for San Fernando Valley state assemblyman Richard Katz in his run for the open 1993 Los Angeles mayoral election, which was the first time in 63 years that an incumbent mayor didn't appear on the ballot.^[60] Katz ran on a tough-on-crime platform that included gun control, including new sales taxes on firearms and ammunition, and selling-off city-owned infrastructure, such as the Ontario International Airport, to pay police overtime, while promising not to raise property taxes.^[61] Despite retaining Carville, and spending a million dollars on campaign television commercials, Katz finished behind three other candidates, garnering 46,173 votes, or 9.73% of 474,366 total votes cast in the nonpartisan blanket mayoral primary, and did not advance to the general election.^[62]

Bill Clinton's 1992 presidential campaign

Further information: 1992 Democratic Party presidential primaries, 1992 United States presidential election, and Bill Clinton 1992 presidential campaign

 

Bill Clinton in October, 1992

In 1992, Carville helped lead Bill Clinton to a win against George H. W. Bush in the presidential election. In crafting an economic strategy for Clinton, Carville reprised the populist rhetoric his client, Pennsylvania Senator Harris Wofford, successfully wielded the prior year, which was distilled into a series of articles Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele wrote for The Philadelphia Inquirer. The articles were re-printed into book form: America: What Went Wrong? which became a prop Clinton brandished effectively from the stump during a time of economic recession. In bringing in the series of articles from the Wofford campaign, Carville imported an angry left-wing populism as a campaign theme.^[63]

One of the formulations he used in that campaign has entered common usage, derived from a list he posted in the campaign war room to help focus himself and his staff, with these three points:

1. Change vs. more of the same.
2. The economy, stupid.
3. Don't forget health care.^[64]

Carville sought to shield Clinton from Gennifer Flowers' allegations of her extramarital sexual affair which emerged shortly before the 1992 New Hampshire Democratic primary. Carville alleged that Flowers was paid $175,000 by a supermarket tabloid for sharing her story, and that "the mainstream media got sucker-punched" by her allegations.^[65] Carville set out to shame the press, berating reporters with charges of "cash for trash" journalism, and noted: "I'm a lot more expensive than Gennifer Flowers.".^[66] Flowers later brought a civil suit against Carville in 1999 (see below).

In June 1992, trailing George H. W. Bush and Ross Perot in the polls, Clinton limped toward the national convention, while the Los Angeles riots crowded him out of news coverage.^[67] Carville knew he needed to bring Clinton back into the news limelight. He did so by orchestrating Clinton's splashy criticism of hip hop artist Sister Souljah in a prepared speech Clinton delivered at the Rainbow Coalition's June 1992 "Rebuild America" conference in Washington, D.C.^[68] Sister Souljah had remarked: "If black people kill black people every day, why not have a week and kill white people?" Clinton responded in his speech by saying, "If you took the words, 'white' and 'black' and you reversed them, you might think David Duke was giving that speech." Clinton refuted the suggestion that his speech was a calculated attempt to appeal to moderate and conservative swing voters by standing up to a core Democratic constituency.^[69] The speech had the effect of opening up a public war between Clinton and Jesse Jackson.^[70]

In 1993, Carville was honored as Campaign District Manager of the Year by the American Association of Political Consultants. His role in the Clinton campaign was documented in the feature-length Academy Award-nominated film The War Room.

American politics during the 1990s

Carville continued to serve the Democratic National Committee in a political capacity during the 1990s, and had an ongoing need to regularly visit the White House to speak with then President Bill Clinton on political matters.^[71] Accordingly, Carville was once one of only twenty individuals at the time who was granted a permanent "Non-Government Service" security badge, which were used for non-government employees, such as contractors, who needed regular access to the White House grounds. In consideration for the privilege of the permanent pass, the Clinton Administration asked Carville to submit to a full security clearance style FBI background check.^[71]

In response to the 1997 civil lawsuit then Arkansas state employee Paula Jones filed against Bill Clinton over her claims of sexual harassment while attending a conference on official business, Carville infamously remarked: "Drag a hundred dollars through a trailer park and there's no telling what you'll find."^[72][73] South Carolina U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham later made reference to Carville's trailer park line during the 2018 Brett Kavanaugh SCOTUS confirmation hearings in reference to Dr. Christine Blasey Ford. During an October, 2018 interview with Michael Smerconish on CNN, on the topic of Graham alluding to Carville's "drag $100", Carville remarked that, at the time, "I was making a joke", and added "I'm always complimented when people use my lines; you always like to leave a little legacy out there."^[74]

In 1999, Gennifer Flowers, who had previously alleged an affair with Carville's 1992 client Bill Clinton, sued Carville and his colleague George Stephanopoulos for defamation of character. In 2000, Flowers additionally named Hillary Clinton as a defendant in the suit.^[75] Attorney Larry Klayman of Judicial Watch, a conservative advocacy organization, represented her in the suit.^[76] Flowers contended that Carville and Stephanopoulos ignored obvious warning signs that news media reporting did not conclusively determine that tapes of her recorded telephone conversations with Clinton were "doctored."^[77] In 2004, a federal district court dismissed the case with summary judgment.^[77] Klayman then appealed the case on Flowers' behalf.^[78] In 2006, 14 years after the allegations of the affair became an issue for Bill Clinton's first presidential campaign, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit affirmed the lower court's dismissal.^[79]

International elections 1990s to 2010s

Beginning in the mid-1990s, Carville worked on a number of election campaigns abroad, including those of Tony Blair, then Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, during the 2001 general election (in which Blair was comfortably re-elected), and with the Liberal Party of Canada.

Carville viewed working campaigns abroad as more commercially lucrative, and with less reputational risk than campaigns in the United States noting in 2009: "If you help elect a president and then you get involved in a governor's race and you lose, it's going to be a little bit damaging to your reputation. But if you go to Peru and you run a presidential race and you lose, no one knows or cares. So why go to New Jersey and lose for 100 grand when you can go to Peru and lose for a million?" ^[80]

Carville has been less forthcoming to the news media about his work abroad, and remarked to a Los Angeles Times reporter in 1999, "I won't comment on anything I do outside the U.S."^[81]

Work with U.S. State Department

In 2002, on behalf of the U.S. State Department, Carville, and his wife, political consultant Mary Matalin, met with a group of 55 Arab women political leaders during the 2002 United States midterm elections. The programming, "Women as Political Leaders" International Visitor (IV) Program", was the first program implemented under the auspices of the Middle East Partnership Initiative, a collection of 40 programs headed by then deputy assistant secretary for Near East Affairs Liz Cheney.^[82] In addition to events with Carville and Matalin, the group met with congressional, state and local campaign staff, and observed campaign work during their visits to Concord, New Hampshire, Dallas, Texas, Detroit, Michigan, Toledo, Ohio, Raleigh, North Carolina, and Tallahassee and Tampa, Florida.^[83]

That year, Carville also proposed visiting Arab and Muslim nations on behalf of the US government to do "some kind of propaganda," adding "I'd love to use my experience and skills to tell people about my country and what's available to them beyond hopelessness and terrorism." He added, "What the terrorists are after is the younger and increasingly poor population. What they are offering is not that much, but we are not doing a good job telling those young people the other side of the story. It's time we told them about choices they have without imposing American values." ^[84]

Greece, 1993

Carville, Begala, and Mary Matalin advised incumbent Greek Prime Minister Konstantinos Mitsotakis in an election that saw local Greek press allege United States interference in the election.^[85] Unpopular because his program of economic austerity and privatization, Mitsotakis failed in his reelection bid, and lost to democratic socialist Andreas Papandreou.

Brazil, 1994

Further information: 1994 Brazilian general election

 

Fernando Henrique Cardoso

In 1994, Carville consulted for Fernando Henrique Cardoso in his successful 1994 campaign for the Brazilian presidency.^[86] Cardoso, a professor and Fulbright Fellow lectured in the United States during the 1980s at Columbia University on issues of democracy in Brazil. Cardoso, often nicknamed "FHC", was elected with the support of a heterodox alliance of his own Social Democratic Party, the PSDB, and two right-wing parties, the Liberal Front Party (PFL) and the Brazilian Labour Party (PTB). During his tenure in office, Cardoso's administration liquidated public assets and deepened the privatization of government-owned enterprises in steel milling, telecommunications and mining, along with making reforms to Brazil's social security income program and tax systems.

Honduras, 1997

Further information: 1997 Honduran general election

In 1997, Carville consulted for then leader of the National Congress of Honduras, Carlos Flores Facussé, in his presidential campaign.^[87] Flores attended the American School of Tegucigalpa, studied international finance at Louisiana State University in the early 1970s, and married a U.S. citizen from Tennessee.^[88]

 

Honduran president Carlos Flores shakes hands with United States president Bill Clinton at Soto Cano Air Base in Honduras.

He later became the publisher of his family's La Tribuna, a leading Honduran newspaper, and served on various corporate boards of directors, including the Central Bank of Honduras,^[89] and became involved in politics. Flores was aligned with former president Roberto Suazo Córdova's Rodista faction, the more conservative wing of the liberal party. Vowing to move Honduras past its image of being primarily a banana and coffee exporter, Flores campaigned on his "New Agenda" platform, which included a ten-point plan to stabilize the economy. Flores distanced himself from the outgoing Reina administration, while successfully portraying himself as an opposition candidate from the same party.^[90]

In the November 1997 general election, Flores faced National party candidate Nora Gúnera de Melgar, the wife of General Juan Alberto Melgar Castro, who seized power in a 1975 coup which removed then president Oswaldo López Arellano after his bananagate bribery scandal with United Fruit Company.

Flores defeated his opponent by a 10% margin of 195,418 votes out of a total of 1,885,388 votes cast. Gúnera de Melgar's campaign was aided by the assistance Dick Morris, a rival political consultant and also a political adviser to Bill Clinton. Morris claimed he had no knowledge of Carville's involvement with his opponent until after the election.^[87]

In October 1998, Hurricane Mitch devastated Honduras, and post-hurricane reconstruction efforts resulted in international development banks' renegotiation of much of Honduras' external debt in exchange for structural adjustment policies. After selling state-owned airports and energy companies, Flores unsuccessfully attempted to privatize Hondutel, the state-owned telephone utility, and when that effort failed, the International Monetary Fund froze the distribution of loans and demanded that the government further accelerate its privatization programs.^[91]

Ecuador, 1998

Further information: 1998 Ecuadorian general election

 

Jamil Mahuad Witt

In 1998, Carville helped to craft a successful strategy to elect Jamil Mahuad Witt as President of Ecuador. Mahuad, an Ecuadorian-born attorney, earned a Master of Public Administration from Harvard Kennedy School, where he was Mason Fellow.^[92] He was also a US State Department-sponsored Fulbright Fellow,^[93] who lectured in ethics and politics at several universities.

Mahuad was elected Mayor of Quito in the 1990s before retaining the services of Carville to help him win the Ecuadorian presidency,^[94][95][96] in a campaign in which Mahuad touted his educational background at Harvard Kennendy School.

In the wake of an economic crisis from falling oil prices and stagnant economic growth, Mahuad decreed a state of emergency, and embarked on austerity measures to stifle rampant inflation, including sales tax and gasoline tax increases, freezing bank account withdrawals, and the dollarization of the economy which included the sudden voiding and invalidation of the sucre, Ecuador's currency since 1884.^[97] In January 2000, Mahuad was forced from office in a military coup following demonstrations by Ecuadorians.^[98] Mahuad fled to exile in the United States. In 2014, an Ecuadorian court convicted Mahuad, in absentia, of embezzlement during his time in office, and sentenced him to twelve years in prison.^[99] Interpol also issued a warrant for his arrest. ^[100]

Panama, 1998

 

Ernesto Perez Balladares

In 1998, the Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD) party in Panama retained Carville as their main adviser to help re-elect then term-limited President Ernesto Pérez Balladares during an election where opposition figures suggested that Perez Balladares was hoping to convey the impression that the Clinton Administration in the United States secretly favored a second term for him.^[101] Pérez Balladares, who attended college in the United States at the University of Notre Dame before attaining his Master's at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania,^[102] reformed Panama's Labor Code, privatized Panama's telephone and electrical utilities, and ushered Panama into the World Trade Organization during his tenure.^[103] Despite massive spending by the PRD, including the hiring of Carville to craft an effective political strategy, the proposal to lift his term limitation was defeated by a margin of almost 2 to 1.^[104]

Israel, 1998–1999

Further information: 1999 Israeli prime ministerial election

 

Ehud Barak with PLO chairman Yasser Arafat, and United States president Bill Clinton

At the suggestion of President Clinton, who had grown frustrated with Benjamin Netanyahu's intransigence in the peace process, Carville, along with colleagues Bob Shrum, a speechwriter for President Clinton, and Stanley Greenberg, consulted in late 1998 and early 1999 for Labor Party candidate Ehud Barak to help him prepare for the 1999 prime ministerial election.

Carville and colleagues endeavored to help Barak seize control of the daily debate, and boost his struggling challenge to incumbent head-of-state Binyamin Netanyahu. Short declarative sentences, sound bites, rapid response, repetition, wedge issues, ethnic exploitation, nightly polling, negative research, searing attack advertisements on television, all familiar tools of American politics, arrived on the Israeli political scene during the election, as a part of what Netanyahu's director of communications, David Bar-Illan characterized as an Americanization of the election, and Netanyahu advisers implying White House meddling in an Israeli election.^[105] Barak won election by a double digit margin and served for over two years, before calling a special prime ministerial election in 2001.

Argentina, 1999

Further information: 1999 Argentine general election

 

Eduardo Duhalde

Carville consulted for Buenos Aires Province Governor Eduardo Duhalde in his 1999 run for president of Argentina as the Justicialist Party nominee. Carville remarked in May, 1999 that U.S. Ambassador to Argentina James Cheek introduced him to Duhalde in January, 1998.^[106] Carville's consulting fee ran $30,000 per month, in 1999 US dollars, added to a percentage of campaign advertisements, plus first class airfare and hotel expenses.^[107]

Duhalde spent much of the campaign embroiled in a power struggle with his own party and incumbent President Carlos Menem who was barely dissuaded from running for a third term despite constitutional term limits, and a series of court rulings against him. The contest of campaigns was rather flat; there were no presidential debates, nor large campaign rallies, nor were any major changes in course promised by the frontrunner candidates.^[108] Duhalde emphasized his law and order credentials as a campaign theme. One television advertisement for Duhalde's campaign depicted him walking in the woods alone, talking to himself, and bemoaning all the political enemies plotting against him.^[109] Carville clashed with Duhalde's public relations team leading up to the election, which lead to his departure.^[110]

Against an economic backdrop of the Argentine Great Depression, Duhalde lost the October 1999 general election to Radical Civic Union party candidate Fernando de la Rúa who enjoyed the strategy and advice of U.S. American political consult Dick Morris (like Carville, also a former consultant to President Bill Clinton). De la Rúa would later resign during the December 2001 riots, and the Argentine Congress appointed the governor of San Luis Province Adolfo Rodríguez Saá as president. When Rodríguez Saá also resigned, Congress appointed Duhalde, who would serve as president of Argentina from January, 2002 through May, 2003.

Bolivia, 2002

Further information: 2002 Bolivian general election

Further information: Our Brand Is Crisis (2005 film)

 

Gonzalo "Goni" Sanchez de Lozada in 2003

In 2002, through his firm Greenberg Carville Shrum (GCS), Carville strategized in Bolivia on behalf of Revolutionary Nationalist Movement (MNR) party presidential candidate Gonzalo "Goni" Sánchez de Lozada. The son of a political exile, Sánchez de Lozada spent his early years in Iowa, studied at the University of Chicago,^[111] and spoke Spanish with a midwestern American accent.^[112][113] Sanchez de Lozada served as Bolivian president in the mid 1990s, and had a record of using shock therapy, economic liberalization, and privatization. In his 2002 election campaign, he faced the first serious challenge to the hegemony of the established Bolivian political parties in the form of Evo Morales and his left-wing populist and indigenist Movement for Socialism (MAS) party.

Carville helped Sanchez de Lozada run a campaign playbook with a slick media campaign under the slogan "Bolivia sí puede" ("Yes, Bolivia can") that featured negative attack ads on his opponents, particularly against Cochabamba mayor Manfred Reyes Villa. In one campaign advertisement, Reyes Villa was blamed for rampant diarrhea in the city's poor children.^[114]

Sanchez de Lozada garnered a plurality of votes, 22.46%, against Evo Morales second place finish at 20.94%, before coming to power in August 2002 in a coalition government formed with two other political parties.^[115] Lozada resigned in October, 2003 and fled to exile in the United States following the 2003 Bolivian Gas Conflict. Carville's work for Lozada in Bolivia was portrayed in the 2005 documentary film Our Brand Is Crisis, which inspired the 2015 narrative form film Our Brand is Crisis.

Venezuela, 2003

Further information: 2002 Venezuelan coup d'état attempt

 

Hugo Chávez tours the USS Yorktown cruiser in March, 2002, at Port Willemstad, Curaçao, Netherlands Antilles during the 43rd annual UNITAS multi-national naval exercise.

In early 2003, Carville worked in Venezuela as an advisor to Venezuelan business interests that previously led an economically devastating strike in the spring of 2002 by managers of the national oil company, Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA), in an effort to destabilize the government of leftist president Hugo Chávez.^[116] In the aftermath of an unsuccessful coup attempt in April 2002, the group sought Carville's assistance in displacing Chávez from office.^{[117][118][119][120]} In a September, 2006 interview that touched on the topic, Carville remarked: "I've worked in Venezuela and I would be very reluctant to call Chávez a democrat."^[121]

Afghanistan 2009

Further information: Afghan presidential election, 2009

 

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani

Afghan presidential candidate Ashraf Ghani hired Carville as a campaign advisor in July 2009. Ghani, who renounced his US Citizenship in order to run for Presidency in Afghanistan,^[122] attended high school in the United States in Lake Oswego, Oregon, during the late 1960s, earned his master's degree from Columbia University in 1977, was a Fulbright Fellow in the United States who taught at UC Berkeley, and Johns Hopkins University in the 1980s, and worked as an economist at the Washington, DC-based World Bank in the 1990s.^[123]

Ghani and Carville met in Washington in the spring of 2009 through mutual friends.^[124] Carville would not say whether he was paid to advise Ghani,^[124] whereas Ghani claimed Carville volunteered his time.^[125] Carville remarked at the time that the 2009 Afghan presidential election is "probably the most important election held in the world in a long time," and he called his new job "probably the most interesting project I have ever worked in my life."^[126] When asked about similarities between politics in Afghanistan and politics in Louisiana, Carville responded: "Yeah, I felt a little bit at home, to be honest with you." Carville's objective was to help prevent one of Ghani's opponents, Hamid Karzai from garnering a majority of votes, to force the election into a second round.^[127] Ghani garnered just 2.94% of the vote, with Kazai finishing just shy of a 50% majority. After a cancelled run-off election Karzai became president.

Colombia 2010

Further information: 2010 Colombian presidential election

 

Juan Manuel Santos and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, shortly before the second round of voting, on June 9, 2010

In 2010, Carville worked as senior advisor to elect presidential candidate Juan Manuel Santos in Colombia.^[128][129] The Colombian-born Santos attended the University of Kansas for undergraduate studies from 1969 to 1973, graduating with a degree in economics and business. He returned to the U.S. as Fulbright visiting fellow at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University in 1981,^[130] and also earned a master's degree from Harvard Kennedy School in 1981,^[131] and lectured as a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University in 1988.^[132]

Santos later joined the Washington, DC-based think tank, the Inter-American Dialogue, and served as Colombia's Minister of Trade,^[133] and Minister of Finance and Public Credit of Colombia during the 1990s and early 2000s.^[133] In 2006, then President Alvaro Uribe appointed Santos as Colombia's Minister of Defence. Santos supervised the military during a period of political tension and military action targeted at the FARC guerrilla group, including a controversial military raid on Ecuador's border,^[134] and extrajudicial assassinations during the "False positives" scandal.^[135]

Carville played a crucial role for Santos, helping him to analyze voter polls, and crafted a winning strategy,^[136][137] that included the night-time distribution of pamphlets under the doors of voters' homes predicting the end of popular social welfare initiatives if Santos wasn't elected.^[138]

On June 20, 2010, after two rounds of voting, Santos was elected as President of Colombia and was inaugurated on 7 August 2010 in the midst of a diplomatic crisis with Venezuela.^[139] The U.S. State Department remarked in official communications that it was "pleased" with the election of Santos, and praised the "spirited debate" before the runoff and Colombia's "longstanding commitment to democratic principles".^[140] In 2017, Santos acknowledged that his 2010 campaign received illegal payments from Brazilian conglomerate Odebrecht.^[141]

 

Daniel Scioli with Pope Benedict XVI

Argentina 2015

Further information: 2015 Argentine general election

Carville acted as advisor for Daniel Scioli's 2007 and 2011's campaigns for the governor of Buenos Aires. He also consulted for his unsuccessful presidential campaign in 2015.^[142] The election featured allegations of vote-buying, when Scioli's Front for Victory party was alleged to have distributed sacks with bottles of cooking oil, pasta and flour to Buenos Aires voters in exchange for their votes.^[143] Scioli was defeated in a November, 2015 runoff election.

John Kerry's 2004 presidential campaign

Further information: John Kerry 2004 presidential campaign

 

John Kerry at a campaign rally in Minneapolis on October 21, 2004

In September, 2004, after conversations with Bill Clinton, Massachusetts Senator John Kerry engaged the assistance of Carville as an informal adviser to his 2004 presidential campaign.^[144] Rival political consultant Dick Morris speculated at the time that Carville and Greenberg, instrumental participants in the Clinton's political machine, infiltrated Kerry's campaign as a way to engineer his defeat and clear a path for Hillary Clinton to run in 2008.^[145][146] In the aftermath of Kerry's loss, Carville and colleagues Stanley Greenberg, as well as journalist Bob Shrum, sought to place blame on external events, including news media coverage of the Iraq War, the October, 2004 Osama bin Laden video, as well as Bush's focus on cultural issues.^[147]

2000s

 

Carville after delivering a speech at a Western Association of Venture Capitalists meeting in December 2009

Carville co-hosted CNN's Crossfire along with associate Paul Begala from 2002 until the show's cancellation in 2005. Carville was a CNN contributor until parting ways with the network in 2013.^[148] The following year, Carville joined Fox News Channel as a contributor.^[149]

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, and James Fallows.

In 2006, Carville became a host on a sports radio show, 60/20 Sports, on XM Satellite Radio, with Luke Russert, son of NBC journalist Tim Russert. The show was an in-depth look at the culture of sports based on the difference in ages of the two hosts.

During 2006 mid-terms, then Democratic National Committee chair Howard Dean mobilized a Fifty-state strategy. Democrats won control of both houses of Congress for the first time since the 1994 election. For the first time since the creation of the Republican party in 1854, no Republican captured any House, Senate, or Gubernatorial seat previously held by a Democrat.^[150] Notwithstanding, after the election, on November 15, 2006, Carville blasted Dean's leadership as "Rumsfeldian in its incompetence," called for Dean's ouster as DNC Chair and his replacement with Harold Ford Jr., and claimed that, with a conventional strategy of piling money solely into close races, Democrats could have picked up as many as 50 House seats, roughly 20 more than they won that year.^[151][152] In late November 2006, Carville proposed a truce of sorts.^[153]

Carville was 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.

In January, 2009, Carville predicted the execution of a peace agreement between Israel and Syria in the following 18 months, noting it would be a foreign policy priority for the incoming Obama administration.^[154] For several months in 2010, then Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu participated in secret, American-brokered discussions with Syria toward a peace treaty based on a full Israeli withdrawal from the Golan Heights. The Arab Spring ensued the following year, and the treaty never came to fruition.^[155]

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.^[156] Carville was particularly critical of Limbaugh for saying he wanted Barack Obama to "fail".

Carville was a regular contributor with Stan Greenberg to the weekly Carville-Greenberg Memo at The National Memo.

Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign

Further information: Hillary Clinton 2008 presidential campaign

 

Hillary Rodham Clinton on the stump in New Hampshire in June 2007

Carville advised Hillary Clinton during her 2008 presidential campaign. In remarks on then rival candidate, Senator Barack Obama, Carville declared in 2007 that Barack Obama was the Democratic candidate "most likely to explode or implode."^[157]

On March 22, 2008, Carville compared New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, who had just endorsed Barack Obama for the nomination, to Judas Iscariot, calling this "an act of betrayal." Carville remarked, "Mr. Richardson's 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," referring to Holy week. Richardson had served President Bill Clinton as his Energy Secretary, and Ambassador to the United Nations, and Carville believed Richardson owed an endorsement to Senator Clinton. Carville also claimed Richardson assured many in the Clinton campaign that he would at least remain neutral and abstain from taking sides.^[158] Richardson denied 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.^[159] Carville went on to note, "I doubt if Governor Richardson and I will be terribly close in the future," Carville said,^[160] 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. However, 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."^[161] The moment marked a shift from his previous and often determinedly optimistic comments about the state of Clinton'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.^{[citation needed]}

2010s

 

Carville and former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin at a 2016 Polticon forum

Carville was retained by Palantir Technologies as a paid adviser in 2011, and was instrumental in bringing about Palantir's collaboration with the New Orleans Police Department to quietly deploy predictive policing software in New Orleans.^[162][163]

Carville has criticized Obama's political style and demeanor over the years. On November 18th, 2010, Carville spoke to an audience at a Christian Science Monitor breakfast and remarked: "If Hillary gave up one of her balls and gave it to Obama, he'd have two."^[164] Carville made a similar remark to political journalist Eleanor Clift during the midst of the primaries in May, 2008, insinuating that Hillary Clinton was a tougher candidate, remarking: "If she gave him one of her cojones, they'd both have two."^[165]

In November 2013, in light of President Barack Obama's declining approval poll numbers, Carville commented "I think the best thing he can do is take a toke on the mayor of Toronto's crack pipe, because his numbers are about 48."^[166]

On October 21, 2018, Carville participated with Fox News pundit Tucker Carlson at the 2018 PoltiCon in Los Angeles in "A conversation with Eddie Izzard", an event chaired by the British comedian.^[167]

Carville joined the faculty of Louisiana State University's Manship School of Mass Communication in January 2018. His work at the Manship School was supported by philanthropic gifts.^[168] He has also lectured in political science at Tulane University.^[169]

In 2019, political pundit Mark Halperin consulted with Carville for his upcoming book, How to Beat Trump: America's Top Political Strategists on What It Will Take. Carville was asked what he would tell Halperin's sexual assault victims, who have expressed disappointment and outrage that so many top Democrats were willing to talk with someone accused of such serious allegations, and remarked: "I know he's been accused by a lot of people and lost his job. The guy called me and asked me to speak to him on a topic that I obviously care about. And I spoke to him."^[170]

2020s

Michael Bennet's 2020 presidential campaign

 

Carville campaigning with 2020 presidential candidate Michael Bennet in New Hampshire

In January 2020, Carville endorsed Colorado Senator Michael Bennet's ultimately unsuccessful campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination.^[171] Carville appeared on stage with Bennet leading up to the 2020 New Hampshire Democratic presidential primary at his political events in the state. Carville remarked of Bennet during the campaign season: "This is John Kennedy recloned, you can't get any better than this guy!"^[172] Bennet, who leaned hard on Carville's endorsement, garnered 963 votes in New Hampshire, or 0.3% of 300,022 total Democratic ballots cast in a year of record-shattering turnout.^{[173][174][175]}

2020 election cycle

Carville has also entered the podcast business, and, along with Al Hunt hosts 2020 Politics War Room, which purports to offer "a backstage pass to impeachment and the 2020 Election."^[176] He continues to make frequent appearances with Brian Williams in MSNBC cable news programming to comment on the 2020 Democratic debates, caucuses and primaries, and the trajectory of the 2020 Democratic nomination and general election.

In February 2020, Carville suggested jettisoning the Democratic presidential primaries and caucuses, letting House Speaker Nancy Pelosi select the Democratic Party's presidential and vice-presidential candidates, and suggested Mitt Romney should "resign from the Senate to save the Democratic Party's ass, and run our convention." Carville further added he might cast a write in vote for Nancy Pelosi when he votes in Louisiana.^[176]

In February 2020 media appearances and interviews, against a backdrop of presidential candidate Bernie Sanders' rise in the polls, Carville expressed his displeasure at the prospect of Sanders being nominated, branded Sanders as a "communist" and pejoratively labeled Sanders' base of support as a "cult", warning of the "end of days" if Sanders were to win the Democratic nomination.^[177][178] Carville used his media appearances surrounding the dustup to rail against the ascendance of progressive populist Democratic policy positions such as student loan debt forgiveness^[179] and "people voting from jail cells."^[180] Carville also decried banning hydraulic fracking for shale gas.^[181]

In November 2020, Carville predicted that the result of the presidential election would be known by 10 p.m. on election day. After the Associated Press took an additional four days to declare the winner, Politico named Carville's prediction among "the most audacious, confident and spectacularly incorrect prognostications about the year".^[182]

Pennsylvania Senate election, 2022

Main article: 2022 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania

In 2022, Carville led the "Penn Progress" Super Pac,^[183][184] which spent the entirety of its funds in support of Rep. Conor Lamb's bid for the U.S. Senate seat vacated by retiring senator Pat Toomey.^[185] Lamb worked closely with Carville's SuperPac, and participated in donor calls Carville arranged. ^[186][187]

Carville's Super PAC bankrolled TV ads which sought to portray one of Lamb's primary opponents, Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman as a "self-described democratic socialist." Within a day of airing, PolitiFact and Factcheck.org called the attack ad false,^[188] The Philadelphia Inquirer commented that Fetterman had never actually described himself that way,^[189] the ABC affiliate in Philadelphia, stopped broadcasting the ad,^[190] and Senator Elizabeth Warren called on Lamb to disavow it.^[191] Echoing a fanciful attack by Pennsylvania Republican Party chairman Val DiGiorgio, Carville himself re-tweeted news coverage on Fetterman being labeled a "silver spoon socialist."^[192][193]

Public speaking

In 2004, The New York Times noted that Carville was making more than 100 speeches per year to various audiences, including business groups, colleges and universities and Democratic Party fundraising events. Charles Lewis, executive director at the Center for Public Integrity, a Washington research group, remarked that "No political consultant has carved a space as unique as his." Fred Wertheimer, president of Democracy 21, said at the time: "He's become a commodity of himself by design. He's a walking conglomerate." Joe Lockhart, a former press secretary to Bill Clinton, characterized Carville as "a multimedia corporation, and he's been smart about it. He is a model of the future. This could not have happened pre-1992 when campaign consultants were viewed by a small audience. Now they are public celebrities."^[194] Carville was noted to have been represented exclusively by the Washington Speakers Bureau, with a speaker's fee of $20,500 in 2004 to get him to the podium for an hour, plus first-class expenses and top accommodations.^[195]

Commercial endorsements and advertisements

Carville had an array of commercial endorsements, and starred in print media and television advertisements for leading consumer brands including Coca-Cola, Little Debbie snacks, Maker's Mark bourbon, Heineken beer, Alka-Seltzer antacid, American Express credit cards, Nike shoes, the Cotton Council, and Ariba software.^[194]

In 2000, through Bob Chlopak's and Peter Schechter's Chlopak, Leonard, Schechter & Associates (CLS), a Washington, DC-based public relations firm, Carville enjoyed a sponsorship with Playboy media and Captain Morgan rum, which included a trip to Hugh Hefner's Playboy mansion.^[196]

Personal life

Carville is married to political consultant Mary Matalin, who worked for Republican George H. W. Bush on his 1992 presidential reelection campaign. Carville and Matalin were married in New Orleans in October 1993. They have two daughters. In 2008, Carville and Matalin relocated their family from Virginia to New Orleans.^[197]

Carville has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and has spoken publicly about ADHD for organizations like Children and Adults with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.^[198]

Carville sold his house in Uptown New Orleans in May of 2021. He temporarily relocated to Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, until moving back into New Orleans in June of 2021. Carville still owns his house in Bay St. Louis and frequently visits. In many of his appearances on cable news, he can be seen in his living room there.^[199]

Books

Politics

• All's Fair: Love, War and Running for President (1995), with Mary Matalin and Peter Knobler
• We're Right, They're Wrong: A Handbook for Spirited Progressives (1996)
• ...And The Horse He Rode In On: The People vs. Kenneth Starr (1998)
• Stickin: The Case for Loyalty (2000) with Paul Begala
• Suck Up, Buck Up... and Come Back When You Foul Up (2001)
• Had Enough? (2004)
• Take It Back: Our Party, Our Country, Our Future (2006) with Paul Begala
• 40 More Years: How the Democrats Will Rule the Next Generation (2009)
• It's the Middle Class, Stupid! (2012) with Stan Greenberg
• Love & War: Twenty Years, Three Presidents, Two Daughters and One Louisiana Home, (2014) with Mary Matalin
• We're Still Right, They're Still Wrong: The Democrats' Case for 2016 (2016)

Children's fiction

• Lu and the Swamp Ghost (2004) with co-author Patricia McKissack and illustrator David Catrow

Film and television appearances

• Carville takes a lead role in The War Room, a documentary about Bill Clinton's 1992 presidential campaign, together with George Stephanopoulos.
• He appeared in the 1996 film The People vs. Larry Flynt as Hamilton County Prosecuting Attorney Simon Leis.^[200]
• He appeared in three episodes of the sitcom Mad About You playing himself, as head of a political consulting firm that hires Jamie Buchman, played by Helen Hunt.
• He has a guest role on the sitcom Spin City, where he is interviewed for a job as campaign manager.
• Carville reportedly accepted the role of Crazy Ray in the cancelled animated Walt Disney Animation Studios film My Peoples, which was later re-titled A Few Good Ghosts.^[201]
• In the films Old School and Wedding Crashers, Carville makes cameo appearances as himself.
• He appeared as himself in Our Brand Is Crisis, a documentary about the Bolivian presidential election.
• Carville appears as the Governor of Missouri, Thomas Crittenden, in the 2007 movie The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.
• He appeared as himself in NBC's comedy 30 Rock, in season 2 episode 8, "Secrets and Lies".
• He appeared in cartoon form in the Family Guy episode "Running Mates."
• He starred in Steven Soderbergh's HBO series K Street, along with his wife.
• Carville is a regular guest on The Tony Kornheiser Show, where he picks both NFL and college football games against the USA Today spreads.
• He voiced Judge Roland McFarlane in the King of the Hill episode "Jumpin' Crack Bass".
• He made a cameo appearance in The Muppets.
• Beginning in 2012, Carville and Matalin appeared in "Cocktail Party" commercials for Maker's Mark Kentucky Straight Bourbon.
• Carville appears as himself in the film G.I. Joe: Retaliation, introducing the President at a fundraising event.
• He was portrayed on Saturday Night Live, mostly by Bill Hader.^[202]
• He was also portrayed by Hader in "The Bunker", an episode of the "mockumentary" series Documentary Now which parodies his appearance in The War Room.^[203]
• He and his wife perform the epilogue to Hayes Carll's political comedy song "Another Like You".^[204]
• He and his wife appeared about their participation in the Clinton and Bush campaigns of the 1992 presidential election in the documentary series Race for the White House.
• He has been appearing on The Beat with Ari Melber.

References

1. "Legendary Political Consultant and Alumnus James Carville Returns to LSU to Join Manship School Faculty". LSU Media Center. September 26, 2017. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
2. "James Carville joins Fox News". Politico. February 6, 2014. Retrieved February 24, 2020.
3. "David Axelrod calls Newt Gingrich 'the godfather of gridlock'". PolitiFact. Retrieved 2012-09-05.
4. Halberstam, David (September 4, 2002). War in a Time of Peace: Bush, Clinton, and the Generals. Scribner. ISBN 0743223233.
5. DePaulo, Lisa (February 1, 1992). "He Came From The Swamp" (PDF). Washingtonian Magazine. No. February 1, 1992. Retrieved February 1, 2020.
6. The Columnists 2006-01-28 at the Wayback Machine. Salon.
7. Carville, James; Mary Matalin (2007-03-27). . Washington, D.C.: Consumer Electronics Association. Archived from the original (.doc) on 2008-02-29. Retrieved 2008-04-01.
8. "James Carville has returned to Louisiana, living and teaching in New Orleans". News Library. May 17, 2009. Retrieved 5 September 2012.
9. Carville: Remembering Leprosy In America – Marcia G. Gaudet – Google Books. Retrieved 2012-09-05 – via Google Books.
10. "L. A. Carville from Carville, La" (PDF). www.mylouisianafamily.com. Retrieved 3 October 2023.
11. "Descendants of Alexander Carvi - Genealogy.com". Retrieved 24 January 2017.
12. Baum, Geraldine (December 3, 1991). "Message Man After The Pennsylvania 'Miracle' Democrats Hope James Carville Can Help Them Win The White House". Los Angeles Times. Washington, DC. Retrieved February 10, 2021.
13. "Love, War, and Running for President". Newsweek Magazine. September 11, 1994. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
14. "10 People You Didn't Know Were U.S. Marines | U.S. Naval Institute". Usni.org. Retrieved 2012-09-05.
15. "Notable Alumni". lsu.edu. Retrieved 2020-07-15.
16. Gumbo. Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana State University. 1963. pp. 236–7.
17. "CNN Political Ticker: All politics, all the time Blog Archive - Carville bumps into BP CEO " - Blogs from CNN.com". Politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com. 2010-06-02. Retrieved 2010-07-04.
18. . lpb.org. Archived from the original on 2013-06-16. Retrieved August 21, 2012.
19. Carville, James (May 1, 2012). "Campaign Tips From Cicero The Art of Politics, From the Tiber to the Potomac". Foreign Affairs. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
20. . Time Magazine. Ft. Hood, TX. November 2, 1970. Archived from the original on 2013-09-22. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
21. Ward, Stephen (August 29, 2008). "Former DA Ossie Brown dies at 82". The Advocate newspaper. Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
22. Grove, Lloyd (January 23, 1992). "THE DOUBLE-FIDGET CAMPAIGN WHIZ". The Washington Post. Dover, New Hampshire. Retrieved February 17, 2021.
23. Allen, Kenneth (June 19, 1976). "Passman Employee Sheds No Light On Reimbursement Charge". Alexandria Daily Town Talk Newspaper. Alexandria, Louisiana. Retrieved February 17, 2021.
24. "Ritchey Encounters Resistance". The Tensas Gazette (St. Joseph, Louisiana). March 25, 1981. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
25. Leggett, Jim (March 27, 1985). "8th District Debate; Holloway Given Almost Impossible Conditions". The Town Talk. Alexandria, Louisiana. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
26. McKimmon, Mark (November 1, 1996). "The Spin Doctor Is Out". Texas Monthly. Austin, Texas. Retrieved February 15, 2021.
27. Atlessy, Sam (September 27, 1992). "Clinton Bid Relies on Texan". The Dallas Morning News. Little Rock, Arkansas.
28. McNeely, Dave (August 5, 1984). "Gay Strip Show for Doggett Draws Attack From Gramm". The Austin American. Austin, Texas. Retrieved February 9, 2021.
29. Ratcliffe, R.G. (September 10, 1984). "Doggett Ad Emphasizes His Family". The Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Austin, Texas. Retrieved February 9, 2021.
30. Weill, Gus (October 6, 1992). "James Carville, Louisiana Legends". Louisiana Legends. Louisiana Public Broadcasting. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
31. Ferrick, Thomas (March 20, 1986). "Invisible Contest Here is in Focus in W.". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia, PA.
32. Perry, James (May 11, 1990). "New Breed of Political Consultants Threatens To Give Negative Campaigning a Bad Name". The Wall Street Journal. New York, NY.
33. "Casey 'deplores' posters attacking Scranton". newspapers.com. The Pittsburgh Press. October 18, 1986. Retrieved October 28, 2018.
34. Ferrick, Jr, Tom (February 10, 2008). "Recalling the Maharishi and Carville's Killer Ad". The New York Times. Retrieved October 28, 2018.
35. Jonathan D. Silver (1999-08-29). "Does the public have a right to delve into politician's indiscretions?". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
36. "Our Campaigns – PA Governor – D Primary Race – May 20, 1986". ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved 6 December 2018.
37. Dionne, E. J. (May 2, 1987). "Upset in Democratic Primary: Kentucky Fervor for a Change". The New York Times. Retrieved 6 January 2010.
38. UPI archives (November 4, 1987). "Personality Spotlight: Wallace Wilkinson: Kentucky Governor-elect". United Press International (UPI). Kentucky. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
39. Rugeley, Cindy (September 27, 1987). "Aide's Remarks Were Off Base Wilkinson Says ; Democratic Candidate Tells His Staff To Avoid A Negative Campaign Tome". The Lexington Herald Leader. Lexington, Kentucky. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
40. Chellegren, Mark (September 27, 1987). "Wilkinson Complains About Campaign Tone". The Associated Press. The Messenger Inquirer newspaper (Owensboro, Kentucky). Retrieved February 8, 2021.
41. "General Election". Elect.ky.gov. Retrieved 2018-11-01.
42. Grove, Lloyd (January 18, 1989). "How Experts Field A Race With Vitriol". Washington Post. Retrieved August 20, 2023.
43. Wildstein, David (January 17, 2022). "New Jersey GOP Could Have Had A Black Senator 34 Years Ago, But They Went In A Different Direction". New Jersey Globe. Retrieved August 20, 2023.
44. Perry, Jmes (May 11, 1990). "New Breed of Political Consultants Threatens to Give Negative Campaigning a Bad Name". The Wall Street Journal. Young Harris, Georgia.
45. McNeely, Dave (October 15, 1989). "Mattox's tax, lottery campaign resembles those used by others". The Austin American Statesman newspaper. Austin, TX.
46. Smothers, Ronald (July 18, 1990). "Young Gains Berth in a Runoff To Run for Governor of Georgia". The New York Times. Hiawassee, Georgia. Retrieved February 9, 2021.
47. Smothers, Ronald (August 7, 1990). "Leader in Georgia Race Driving Hard". The New York Times. Hiawassee, Georgia.
48. McNeely, Dave (February 3, 1991). "Lawmakers weigh the odds on backing state lottery". The Austin American Statesman newspaper. Austin, Texas.
49. Baer, Susan (March 6, 2000). "Consultant has Gore ready for battle; Strategist: One of the Democratic Party's fiercest warriors is a key player in the revamped campaign". The Baltimore Sun. Baltimore, Maryland.
50. "Robert Riggs Reports Jim Mattox Live Interview Democratic Primary Campaign for Texas Governor". True Crime Reporter You Tube Channel. September 11, 2011. Archived from the original on 2021-12-11. Retrieved February 10, 2021.
51. "Jim Mattox, Combative Texas Politician, Dies at 65". The Associated Press. Austin, TX. August 20, 2008. Retrieved February 9, 2021.
52. Martin, Paul (February 11, 2021). "Presidential Oral History, Harris Wofford on the Bill Clinton Presidency". The Miller Center at the University of Virginia. Charlottesville, Virginia. Retrieved February 11, 2021.
53. O'Grady. "Democrats Have Found A Lee Atwater". Knight Ridder News Service. Washington, DC. Retrieved February 10, 2021.
54. "THE 1991 ELECTION: The Winner Man in the News: Harris Llewellyn Wofford Jr.; Backstage No Longer". The New York Times. November 7, 1991.
55. Jason Zengerle (November 20, 2014). "The Man Who Was Everywhere". The New Republic. Retrieved December 3, 2014.
56. Russakoff, Dale (October 31, 1991). "Thornburgh's 44 Point Lead Vanishes". The Washington Post. Retrieved February 10, 2021.
57. Baum, Geraldine (December 3, 1991). "Message Man After The Pennsylvania 'Miracle' Democrats Hope James Carville Can Help Them Win The White House". Los Angeles Times. Washington, DC. Retrieved February 10, 2021.
58. Wicker, Tom (November 7, 1991). "In the Nation, Cuomo and Wofford". The New York Times. New York, NY. Retrieved February 10, 2021.
59. Baum, Geraldine (December 3, 1991). "Message Man After The Pennsylvania 'Miracle' Democrats Hope James Carville Can Help Them Win The White House". Los Angeles Times. Washington, DC. Retrieved February 10, 2021.
60. Fleeman, Michael (November 23, 1992). "A stampede of candidates entering the Race for L.A. mayor". The Associated Press. Los Angeles. Retrieved February 15, 2021.
61. Clifford, Frank (November 23, 1992). "LOCAL ELECTIONS / L.A. MAYOR : Katz Stresses Crime Issue in Late Blitz to Raise His Profile". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles. Retrieved February 15, 2021.
62. "Los Angeles Mayor – Primary". Our Campaigns.
63. Walker, Martin (April 21, 1992). "The fleecing of the US middle classes". The Guardian(London). Washington, DC.
64. "THE 1992 CAMPAIGN: The Democrats – Clinton and Bush Compete to Be Champion of Change; Democrat Fights Perceptions of Bush Gain"; Oct. 31, 1992, The New York Times
65. Weill, Gus (October 6, 1992). "James Carville, Louisiana Legends". Louisiana Legends. Louisiana Public Broadcasting. Retrieved February 16, 2020.
66. Clift, Eleanor (March 29, 1992). "TESTING GROUND". Newsweek. Retrieved February 16, 2020.
67. Seelye, Katharine (November 9, 1992). "How Clinton Won: Despite Advice He Decided To Stick To His Guns". Knight Ridder News Service, Washington Bureau. Washington, DC. Retrieved February 10, 2021.
68. Frisby, Michael (August 30, 1992). "James Carville: Clinton's spinmaster". The Boston Globe. Boston, Massachusetts.
69. Vennochi, Joan (September 16, 2007). "Sister Souljah moments". The Boston Globe.
70. Kornacki, Steve (July 29, 2019). "1992: Bill Clinton builds a winning coalition, Jackson is diminished". NBC News. NBCnews.com. Retrieved February 10, 2021.
71. "Clinton Political Aides to Get FBI Checks : White House: Official tells Congress that screening Carville, three others is part of a broad effort to tighten security. Laxity had been charged". Los Angeles Times. March 23, 1994. Retrieved February 1, 2021.
72. Royko, Mike (January 29, 1997). "Ok, so "Trailer Trash and 'Democrat' not always the same"". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved February 16, 2020.
73. Starr, Kenneth (September 11, 2018). Contempt A Memoir of the Clinton Investigation. United States: Penguin Group. p. 161. ISBN 9780525536154.
74. Smerconish, Michael (October 6, 2020). "Carville On His Trailer Park Line". CNN's Smerconish. Retrieved February 16, 2020.
75. Gennifer Flowers, James Carville, Case No. CV-S-99-1629-PMP (LRL) (U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Nevada November 12, 2002).
76. Liptak, Adam (November 13, 2002). "West: California: Libel Suit From Clinton Era". The New York Times. Retrieved March 20, 2008. The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, in San Francisco, revived a 1999 libel suit filed by Gennifer Flowers against two former aides to Bill Clinton.
77. "GENNIFER FLOWERS: Judge rejects lawsuit against Clinton aides". Las Vegas Review-Journal. March 17, 2004. Retrieved March 20, 2008. Ruling dismisses defamation claim by woman who said she, ex-president had affair
78. "Flowers v. Carville, oral arguments at 9th circuit court of appeals in San Francisco". www.YouTube.com. C-Span. February 14, 2002. Retrieved February 20, 2021.
79. "Court tosses Flowers suit against Hillary". San Francisco Chronicle. January 9, 2006. Retrieved April 3, 2012.
80. Smith, Ben (November 18, 2009). "Obama consultants land abroad". Politico. Arlington, VA. Retrieved February 10, 2021.
81. "Mexico Imports American-Style Campaigning". www.LosAnglesTimes.com. Los Angeles Times. August 27, 1999. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
82. Bumiller, Elizabeth (June 16, 2003). "White House Letter; A Diplomatic Success, And Cheney's Daughter". The New York Times. Washington, DC. Retrieved February 19, 2021.
83. "Arab Women Leaders Hone Campaign Skills in Special IV Program". U.S. State Department, International Women's Issues Newsletter. Washington, DC. December 1, 2002. Retrieved February 19, 2021.
84. "A Warrior Tamed". NicholasKravelev.com. The Financial Times. June 2, 2002. Retrieved February 1, 2021.
85. "POLITICAL COMEBACK IN GREECE". The Washington Post. October 9, 1993. Retrieved September 28, 2022.
86. "As Brazil's Influence Expands, So Does a Campaign Strategist's Success". The New York Times. April 5, 2013. Retrieved February 25, 2020.
87. Kamen, Al (January 21, 1998). "HONDURAS VOTE SPLITS CONSULTANTS". The Washington Post. Washington, DC. Retrieved February 19, 2021.
88. "Honduras Votes for a Leader To Tread Between Two Wars". The Associated Press. November 27, 1989. Retrieved February 19, 2021.
89. Meislin, Richard (November 24, 1984). "HONDURAN POLITICIANS QUIETLY RAISE ISSUE OF SUSPENDING VOTE". The New York Times. Tegucigalpa, Honduras. Retrieved February 19, 2021.
90. "Honduras: Democratic Transition: The Interminable History". Envio. Central American University, Managua, Nicaragua. February 1998. Retrieved February 19, 2021.
91. Booth, John (2010). Understanding Central America 5th edition (PDF). Westview Press. p. 171. ISBN 978-0-8133-4421-8.
92. "Ecuadorean IOP Fellow Accused of Corruption". The Harvard Crimson. July 21, 2000. Retrieved March 6, 2020.
93. "Heads of State/Government". www.State.Gov. US State Department. March 6, 2020. Retrieved March 6, 2020.
94. "Charismatic Political Strategist James Carville Discusses American Politics Oct. 15, Royce Hall". UCLA Newsroom. August 24, 2000. Retrieved March 6, 2020.
95. "SIUC to host political consultant James Carville". Southern Illinois University Carbondale News Website. January 26, 2006. Retrieved March 6, 2020.
96. "The names behind the campaign strategies of the main candidates". Catamarc Actual. November 2, 2014. Retrieved March 6, 2020.
97. "Ecuador Faces Harsh Economic Measures". The Associated Press. March 11, 1999. Retrieved March 6, 2020.
98. "Ex-Ecuadorian president Jamil Mahuad jailed for 12 years". IANS. news.biharprabha.com. Retrieved May 30, 2014.
99. "Ex-Ecuador President Mahuad sentenced to 12 years in jail". BBC. 30 May 2014. Retrieved March 6, 2020.
100. "Harvard 'Evaluating' Relationship with Jamil Mahuad, Former Ecuadorian President". Boston Magazine. March 28, 2014. Retrieved March 6, 2020.
101. "Vote Today In Panama Could Affect Canal's Fate". The New York Times. August 30, 1998. Retrieved February 1, 2021.
102. "Washington Talk; A Panama Enemy Becomes an Ally". The New York Times. July 21, 1994. Retrieved February 1, 2021.
103. . The Economist. October 4, 1997. Archived from the original on November 8, 2012. Retrieved September 2, 2012. (subscription required)
104. . The Economist. September 5, 1998. Archived from the original on February 22, 2016. Retrieved September 2, 2012.(subscription required)
105. "Sound Bites over Jerusalem". The New York Times. April 25, 1999. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
106. O’Donnell, Maria (May 30, 1999). "Consejos de Carville, el asesor norteamericano". La Nacion. Washington, DC. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
107. "Scioli Contrató Ex Asesor De Clinton". La Poltica. Buenos Aires. June 8, 2007. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
108. "ARGENTINA, Parliamentary Chamber: Cámara de Diputados Elections Held in 1999". Inter-Parliamentary Union. Geneva, Switzerland. December 1, 1999. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
109. Goering, Laurie (October 24, 1999). "From Mr. Boring to Mr. President". Chicago Tribune. Buenos Aires. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
110. Dillenberger, Diego (November 8, 1999). "Argentine President to Keep Morris". PR Week. Buenos Aires. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
111. Deardorff, Julie (16 June 1994). "Bolivian President More Comfortable Playing Soccer Than Watching". Chicago Tribune.
112. "Thanks, But Goodbye: Why Many of Evo Morales' Supporters Want Him to Move On".
113. Esha (23 July 2020). "Like Water for Capitalists". historicly.substack.com. Retrieved 2020-07-25.
114. Centellas, Miguel (2007). Democracy on Stilts: Bolivia's Democracy from Stability to Crisis (PhD). Western Michigan University.
115. Soloway, Benjamin (November 2, 2015). "Why Won't Bolivia's Ex-President Watch Sandra Bullock's New Movie With Me?". Foreign Policy. Retrieved February 17, 2020.
116. "The Repeatedly Re-Elected Autocrat". Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR). December 1, 2006. Retrieved February 19, 2021.
117. Wayne, Leslie (April 18, 2004). "From Campaign Trail to Celebrity Circuit". The New York Times. Retrieved February 23, 2020.
118. Lifsher, Marc (May 22, 2003). "Anti-Chavistas Recruit Heavy Hitter Carville Venezuelan Opposition Puts American In War Room to Help Oust President". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved February 23, 2020.
119. Wilson, Scott (January 20, 2003). "Political Deadlock Bolsters Chavez, Venezuelan Leader Exploits General Strike to Remake Institutions, Opponents Say". The Washington Post. Washington, DC. Retrieved February 19, 2021.
120. Ferriss, Susan (January 26, 2003). "Venezuela Grids for Chaos". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Caracas. Retrieved February 19, 2021.
121. Archived at Ghostarchive and the : "Brian Lehrer Live: James Carville, Paul Begala and Paul Levinson". CUNY-TV. September 27, 2006. Retrieved February 19, 2021.
122. Afghanistan's elections: Ghani vs Abdullah, by Brieana Marticorena. The Strategist. 19 August 2014.
123. "Ashraf Ghani Fast Facts". CNN. December 30, 2019. Retrieved February 25, 2020.
124. "James Carville Joins The Afghan Campaign Trail". National Public Radio. July 25, 2009. Retrieved February 25, 2020.
125. "Nietzsche is Dead: James Carville getting into politics in Afghanistan". The LSU Reville. June 28, 2009. Retrieved February 25, 2020.
126. Abrashi, Fisnik (July 9, 2009). "U.S. strategist helps rival of Afghan president". The Associated Press. The San Mateo Daily Journal. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
127. Bruce Eggler & Michelle Krupa, "Carville finds familiar politics in Afghanistan" (section titled "Going native")^{[permanent dead link]} in Times-Picayune, 2009 August 1, Saint Tammany Edition, p. B3.
128. "Juan Manuel Santos' campaign is running at full speed, La Silla Vacía (Colombian Political Website in Spanish)".
129. "Coulter vs. Carville: Showdown between political opposites at A.C. Hilton". The Press Of Atlantic City. August 18, 2020. Retrieved March 5, 2020.
130. . Tufts Magazine. Medford, MA. 2010. ISSN 1535-5063. OCLC 45710313. Archived from the original on 19 December 2010. Retrieved 5 July 2013.
131. Esau, John (November 2012). "Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos Visits Delta Upsilon Chapter at the University of Kansas". Delta Upsilon Quarterly. 130 (4). Indianapolis, IN: Delta Upsilon fraternity: 38–39. OCLC 6644516. Retrieved 5 July 2013.
132. . Cambridge, MA: Nieman Foundation for Journalism. Archived from the original on 23 May 2013. Retrieved 5 July 2013.
133. "Retos del Nuevo Gabinete". El Tiempo (in Spanish). Bogotá. 10 November 1991. ISSN 0121-9987. OCLC 28894254. Retrieved 28 May 2014.
134. "OAS passes resolution on Colombian raid". CNN International. March 6, 2008. Retrieved March 5, 2010.
135. "CNN news". CNN. 6 March 2008. Retrieved 12 August 2010.
136. "'Made in USA': los asesores gringos en la campaña de Santos". La Silla Vacía. June 8, 2010. Retrieved March 5, 2020.
137. "Made in the USA: Santos' secret campaign advisers". June 9, 2010. Retrieved March 5, 2020.
138. "Colombia: the "green wave" that wasn't". Open Democracy. June 7, 2010. Retrieved March 5, 2020.
139. . Latin American International Tribune. 11 August 2010. Archived from the original on 25 February 2021. Retrieved 19 August 2010.
140. "U.S. is 'pleased' with Colombia's new president-elect Santos". The Hindu. 22 June 2010. Retrieved 22 June 2010.
141. "Colombia's Santos apologizes for illegal funds paid into campaign". Reuters. 2017-03-14. Retrieved 2017-03-24.
142. "El asesor de Clinton volvió para ayudar a Scioli a ser presidente". La Poltiica. Buenos Aires (Edition Argentina). May 23, 2014. Retrieved February 15, 2021.
143. Gilbert, J (23 October 2015). "New Scrutiny on Vote Buying as Argentine Elections Near". NYTimes. Retrieved 5 May 2016.
144. Nagourey, Adam (September 6, 2004). "Kerry Enlisting Clinton Aides in Effort to Refocus Campaign". The New York Times. New York, New York. Retrieved February 15, 2021.
145. Webb, Kane (September 16, 2004). "John Kerry's Hail Mary". The Wall Street Journal. Little Rock, Arkansas. Retrieved February 15, 2021.
146. Morris, Dick (September 10, 2004). "Beyond The Bush Bounce (opinion column)". Stories In The News(www.sitnews.us). Ketchican, Alaska. Retrieved February 15, 2021.
147. Nagourey, Adam (November 9, 2021). "Kerry Advisers Point Fingers at Iraq and Social Issues". The New York Times. Washington, DC. Retrieved February 15, 2021.
148. Byers, Dylan (January 29, 2013). "James Carville, Mary Matalin leaving CNN". Politico. Retrieved February 21, 2020.
149. "James Carville joining Fox News as contributor". New York, NY: FOX News Network, LLC. 2014-02-06. Retrieved 2014-06-14.
150. David R. Jones (November 8, 2006). "Why The Democrats Won". CBS News. from the original on May 1, 2007.
151. Koppelman, Alex (November 15, 2006). "Carville: Dean's leadership "Rumsfeldian"". Salon.com. Washington, DC. Retrieved November 27, 2022.
152. Zeleny, Jeff (December 2, 2006). "Deans 50-State Love-Fest - The Caucus - Politics - New York Times Blog". Thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com. from the original on April 6, 2009. Retrieved May 24, 2010.
153. Hotline On Call: Carville's Truce? 2006-12-28 at the Wayback Machine The Hotline. National Journal Group. 2006-11-30.
154. Alarkon, Walter (January 2, 2009). "Carville Predicts Peace, Dem Sex Scandal and GOP Rift". The Hill Newspaper. Retrieved 2022-12-21.
155. Kershner, Isabel (October 12, 2012). "Secret Israel-Syria Peace Talks Involved Golan Heights Exit". The New York Times. Retrieved 2022-12-21.
156. Martin, Jonathan (March 4, 2009). "Rush Job: Inside Dems' Limbaugh Plan". Politico. Retrieved 2009-03-12.
157. Fuller, Jamie (February 10, 2014). "How people responded to Obama's presidential bid in 2007". The Washington Post. Retrieved February 16, 2020.
158. Adam Nagourney and Jeff Zeleny, "First a Tense Talk With Clinton, Then Richardson Backs Obama", The New York Times, March 22, 2008.
159. "Richardson: Obama's speech was decisive". CNN. 2008-03-22. Retrieved 2010-05-05.
160. Sinderbrand, Rebecca (2008-03-25). "Carville: Controversial Judas comment 'had the desired effect'". CNN Political Ticker. CNNPolitics.com. Retrieved 2008-04-01.
161. . CNN. 2008-05-13. Archived from the original on 2009-11-19. Retrieved 2010-05-05.
162. Bullington, Jonathan (March 1, 2018). "How a tech firm brought data and worry to New Orleans crime fighting". New Orleans Times-Picayune. Retrieved February 18, 2020.
163. Winston, Ali (February 27, 2018). "PALANTIR HAS SECRETLY BEEN USING NEW ORLEANS TO TEST ITS PREDICTIVE POLICING TECHNOLOGY". The Verge. Retrieved February 18, 2020.
164. Lach, Eric (November 18, 2010). "Carville: If Hillary Gave Obama One Of Her Balls, 'He'd Have Two'". Talking Points Memo. Retrieved February 16, 2020.
165. Clift, Eleanor (May 1, 2008). "Clift: Obama Needs A Knockout Punch Against Clinton". Newsweek. Retrieved February 16, 2008.
166. "Carville to Obama: Try Crack Pipe". Morning Joe (MSNBC). November 11, 2013. Retrieved February 16, 2020.
167. "Tucker Carlson and James Carville attend Politicon in Los Angeles". United Press International. October 20, 2007. Retrieved February 24, 2020.
168. "Legendary Political Consultant and Alumnus James Carville Returns to LSU to Join Manship School Faculty". LSU Media Center. September 26, 2017. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
169. Hobgood, Kathryn (2008-11-18). . New Orleans, LA: Tulane University. Archived from the original on 2010-06-07. Retrieved 2009-01-29.
170. Darcy, Oliver (August 19, 2020). "Democrats face backlash for participating in Mark Halperin's book: 'They are enabling him and re-traumatizing the victims'". CNN Business. Retrieved February 16, 2020.
171. DiStaso, John (January 13, 2020). "'Ragin' Cajun' James Carville formally endorses Sen. Michael Bennet for president". WMUR-TV. Retrieved February 16, 2020.
172. Luning, Ernest (September 1, 2020). "Crunch time for Colorado's Michael Bennet in presidential race". Colorado Springs Gazette. Retrieved February 16, 2020.
173. Politico, Politico (February 12, 2020). "Bernie Sanders edged out Pete Buttigieg for a win". Politico.
174. Turkewitz, Julie (February 11, 2020). "Michael Bennet Drops Out Of The 2020 Race". The New York Times. Retrieved February 18, 2020.
175. DiStaso, John (February 13, 2020). "NH Primary Source: Gardner praises 'incredible' primary turnout: 457K votes cast". WMUR-TV. Retrieved February 17, 2020.
176. James Carville and Al Hunt (February 6, 2020). "Ann Seltzer on Iowa and The Fate of the Democratic Party" (Podcast). James Carville and Al Hunt. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
177. "Carville fires back at Sanders for 'hack' slam: 'At least I'm not a communist'". The Hill Newspapaer. February 13, 2020. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
178. "James Carville hits back at Bernie Sanders after criticism: 'At least I'm not a communist'". CNN.com. February 13, 2020. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
179. "The Obsolete Politics of James Carville". New Republic. February 10, 2020. Retrieved March 6, 2020.
180. Chillizza, Chris (February 8, 2020). "James Carville warns Democrats against making a big mistake in 2020". CNN. Retrieved February 16, 2020.
181. Illing, Sean (February 7, 2020). "We're losing our damn minds". Vox.com. Retrieved February 17, 2020.
182. Stanton, Zack (December 29, 2020). "The Worst Predictions of 2020". Politico. Retrieved December 30, 2020.
183. Terruso, Julia (April 7, 2022). "An ad supporting Conor Lamb sparked a backlash for wrongly calling John Fetterman a 'self-described democratic socialist'". The Philadelphia Inquirer. from the original on April 12, 2022. Retrieved April 12, 2022.
184. Raju, Manu (April 24, 2022). "Senate front-runner in Pennsylvania embraces Biden and progressive agenda amid Democrats' midterm dilemma". CNN. Retrieved November 13, 2022.
185. "Penn Progress PAC Recipients, 2022 Election Cycle". www.OpenSecrets.org. OpenSecrets. November 13, 2022. Retrieved November 13, 2022.
186. Otterbein, Holly (February 9, 2022). "Carville promotes new super PAC for Conor Lamb". Politico. Retrieved November 13, 2022.
187. Goldmacher, Ray (May 16, 2022). "The Little Red Boxes Making a Mockery of Campaign Finance Laws - Democratic candidates are all-but scripting ads for super PACs and dark-money groups to do their bidding — in plain sight". The New York Times. Retrieved November 13, 2022.
188. "Pro-Lamb Super PAC Misfires in Attack Ad Against Fetterman". www.FactCheck.org. FactCheck, a project of The Annenberg Public Policy Center. April 6, 2022. Retrieved November 13, 2022.
189. Terruso, Julia (April 7, 2022). "An ad supporting Conor Lamb sparked a backlash for wrongly calling John Fetterman a 'self-described democratic socialist'". The Philadelphia Inquirer. from the original on April 12, 2022. Retrieved November 13, 2022.
190. Nir, David (April 5, 2022). "Fetterman campaign demands takedown of ads calling him a democratic socialist". Daily Kos. Retrieved November 13, 2022.
191. Everett, Burgess (April 6, 2022). "D.C. Dems get out of frontrunner Fetterman's way in Pennsylvania". Politico. Retrieved November 13, 2022.
192. "James Carville re-tweet: A super PAC backing Democrat Conor Lamb for PA-Senate is up with its first TV ad attacking John Fetterman. It calls him a "self-described democratic socialist" and "silver spoon socialist"". www.Twitter.com. James Carville. April 5, 2022. Retrieved November 13, 2022.
193. Micek, John (August 27, 2018). "PA GOP boss: Fetterman is a 'silver spoon socialist'".
194. "From Campaign Trail to Celebrity Circuit". The New York Times. April 18, 2004. Retrieved March 6, 2020.
195. "Sex, War & Money". The American Spectator. January 14, 2000. Retrieved March 6, 2020.
196. Atkinson, Claire (September 4, 2000). "PR Play of the week: Captain Morgan and Carville mix it up". PR Week. Washington, DC. Retrieved February 21, 2021.
197. Argetsinger, Amy; Roxanne Roberts (2008-03-27). . The Reliable Source. The Washington Post. pp. C03. Archived from the original on 2008-10-12. Retrieved 2008-04-01.
198. Shoot, Brittany (7 June 2021). "The Stars Who Aligned ADHD with Success". ADDitude Magazine. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
199. "James Carville, Mary Matalin are back in New Orleans with this new $2M downtown condo | Local Politics | nola.com". www.nola.com. Retrieved 2023-06-23.
200. "The People vs. Larry Flynt (1996)". Internet Movie Database (IMDb). Retrieved 5 September 2012.
201. Armstrong, Josh (July 30, 2012). "Director Barry Cook remembers the Peoples of Walt Disney Feature Animation Florida". Animated Views. Retrieved January 24, 2018.
202. "Snl James Carville". HuffPost. Retrieved 24 January 2017.
203. Buono, Alexander; Thomas, Rhys (2016-09-14), The Bunker (Comedy), Fred Armisen, Bill Hader, Helen Mirren, Van Epperson, Broadway Video, retrieved 2021-03-15
204. Archived at Ghostarchive and the : "Hayes Carll – Another Like You ft. Cary Ann Hearst". YouTube. Retrieved 2015-04-27.

Further reading

• Clinton, Bill (2004). My Life. Vintage. ISBN 1-4000-3003-X.
• Bridges, Tyler, and Jeremy Alford (2016). Long Shot: A Soldier, a Senator, a Serious Sin, an Epic Louisiana Election. ISBN 9780-692-79533-0.

External links

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to James Carville.

 

Wikiquote has quotations related to James Carville.

• Appearances on C-SPAN  
• Official website  
• James Carville at IMDb