Carville: Crockett broke ‘first rule of politics’ with Senate campaign launch

Democratic strategist James Carville mapped out on Thursday what he sees are possible problems with Rep. Jasmine Crockett’s (D-Texas) announcement to run for Senate, saying she broke the “first rule of politics.”

“First of all, she seems like she’s well-educated,” Carville told his “Politics War Room” podcast co-host Al Hunt. “Seems like she’s got a lot of energy. But she, to me, she violates the first rule of politics and that is, in politics, you always make it about the voters and never about yourself.”

Carville added that “if you listen to her talk, it’s a lot more about herself than it is about the voters.” He suggested that she help more vulnerable Democrats in Texas keep their seats while also staying in Congress.

“We know what wins elections,” he continued. “We just do, and what wins elections is not sitting there talking incessantly about yourself. Winning elections is not about how many clicks you get or how much overnight fundraising you do. Winning elections is being part of framing issues and understanding where people come from.”

He concluded that he doesn’t “think Congresswoman Crockett is very good at that, I’ll be very frank.”

Carville and Hunt praised her primary opponent in the race to take Sen. John Cornyn’s (R-Texas) Senate seat, state Rep. James Talarico (D). Carville said Talarico “has potential.”

“He talks about voters more than himself, which is a big thing here,” Carville said, to which Hunt replied, “That’s what it’s all about.”

Crockett, a rising star in the Democratic Party, announced her Senate bid Monday and addressed people’s concern over her intended exit from the House to the upper chamber.

“There are a lot of people that said, ‘You got to stay in the House. We need our voice. We need you there.’ And I understand, but what we need is for me to have a bigger voice,” Crockett said at her campaign launch event.

Her campaign launch followed former Rep. Colin Allred (D) dropping out of the race earlier in the day. Allred’s departure clears the way for a showdown between Crockett and Talarico, another Democratic Party rising star.

Republicans relished the launch of her Senate campaign. Cornyn, who is already facing primary challenges from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-Texas), told Semafor in an interview, “Am I hiding my glee? I’ll try to wipe the smile off my face, I would say it’s a gift.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) rubbed his hands together and gave a wide smile after a reporter asked for his thoughts on Crockett’s campaign.

“I’m absolutely delighted that Jasmine Crockett is running for Senate in Texas,” Johnson said. I think it’s one of the greatest things that’s happened to the Republican Party in a long, long time.”

Johnson and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) separately called her “the face of the Democratic Party.“

“You know, it says something about where today’s Democrats are, that the fellow I did run against, Colin Allred, had to drop out of the Democrat primary the instant Jasmine Crockett jumped in, because in their party, they want crazy, and they want more and more crazy,” Cruz said on on Fox News’s “Hannity” on Wednesday.

President Trump called Crockett’s leap into the Senate race a “gift to Republicans.”

“She’s a low-IQ person,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Tuesday. “I can’t imagine she wins. Maybe she’ll get the Democratic nomination, but I think it’s a gift to Republicans. … I’ve watched her for the last two years. I can’t even believe she’s a politician, actually.”