Far-left Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has hit back at longtime Democratic strategist James Carville over his complaint that “preachy females” are driving down the party’s support.
Carville contended in a weekend interview with New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd that Democrats need to tailor their messaging to appeal more to male voters while warning about black men drifting away from supporting President Biden’s re-election.
“Maybe he should start a podcast about it,” the Bronx and Queens lawmaker responded on X Sunday evening. “I hear men are really underrepresented in that space.”
“A suspicion of mine is that there are too many preachy females,” said Carville, a key strategist on Bill Clinton’s 1992 election campaign and a devoted LSU football fan.
“‘Don’t drink beer. Don’t watch football. Don’t eat hamburgers. This is not good for you.’ The message is too feminine: ‘Everything you’re doing is destroying the planet. You’ve got to eat your peas.’”
Carville, 79, also slammed what he considered the party’s obsession with female voters.
“If you listen to Democratic elites — NPR is my go-to place for that,” he said, “the whole talk is about how women, and women of color, are going to decide this election. I’m like: ‘Well, 48% of the people that vote are males. Do you mind if they have some consideration?'”
Recent polling data from Gallup show that 40% of young women identify as liberal or very liberal, while just 25% of young men identify as the same.
Gallup also found that the Democrats’ edge with black voters over the Republican Party has slipped by about 20 percentage points over the last three years.
While stressing that he “actually likes Biden,” Carville expressed deep concerns to Dowd about the incumbent president’s anemic job approval rating.
Overall, 56.1% of voters disapprove of President Biden’s job performance, compared to 40.4% who approve, according to the latest RealClearPolitics aggregate of polls.
“When I look at these polling numbers, it’s like walking in on your grandma naked,” Carville said. “You can’t get the image out of your mind.”
