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Veteran Democratic strategist James Carville warned last week that the Democratic Party may need to consider shutting out far-left candidates in order to keep them from co-opting the party.
In recent months, several high-profile elections have seen far-left candidates, including candidates aligned with or backed by the Democratic Socialists of America, defeat their establishment opponents. Carville has warned in response that there may need to be a formal “schism” within the Democratic Party to stop it from being taken over.
Last week, “The Sharpe Exchange” podcast host Wyatt Sharpe asked Carville about whether he sees this phenomenon of anti-establishment Democrats as a growing phenomenon.
“Well, it’s certainly getting more common. I mean, you can’t deny that,” Carville replied. “They’re very aggressive. The country overwhelmingly rejects their agenda.”
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He lamented that even though many of the far-left candidates identify themselves as democratic socialists, they run in primaries as Democrats.
“Why do you want the name Democratic? Call yourself something else. You’re not you’re not a Democrat! These people are not Democrats,” he said. “Why not get your own name? Why do you have to appropriate our name?”
He then suggested that the Democratic Party’s leadership will need to take concrete institutional steps to protect its brand and its control of the party.
“I think that Hakeem [Jeffries] and other people are going to have to consider some of these people who run against Democrats, should they be allowed in the Democratic caucus? Should they be assigned committees, assuming that we win the House?” Carville asked.
He also wondered if there are certain politicians whom Democrats will have to tell, “‘Well, no, you can’t. You’re not a member of our party.’”
“At some point, it’s, you know, political parties, and you can say, ‘Hey, I feel like I’m a Republican. I feel like a Democrat. I feel like I’m an independent.’ But there are people that are actually appropriating the name of the Democratic Party while they’re running against the Democratic Party,” Carville said. “Well, the party should be able to take some measures to protect its brand.”
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He listed several centrist Democrats running for office, arguing that the party of those candidates “is being hijacked” by the new faction.
The center-left think tank Third Way spoke to Fox News Digital about Carville’s comments.
“If someone gets elected as a Democratic Socialist and wants to caucus as a Democrat in the House and the Senate, they should be able to do so. Let’s not forget, Bernie Sanders has never been a registered Democrat in his life, and he’s caucused as a Democrat in both the House and the Senate for more than three decades,” Jim Kessler, Third Way’s executive vice president for policy said.
“Is there a line that could get you tossed out of the tent? Yes, but it has to be truly abhorrent personal behavior or taking a political position that is deeply offensive to a segment of the population,” he added.
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Kessler shared one key warning, however, about the worst-case scenario.
“My issue with the DSA members potentially coming to the caucus is whether they are trying to hold a place in the tent or trying to burn the tent to the ground,” he said. “Listening to some DSA members, they seem to be armed with a torch. Nonetheless, if they get elected fair and square, they should have their place. But only their place.”
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