Democratic strategist James Carville said on Wednesday that he believes major donors in his party are growing less aligned with left-wing ideology.
On his podcast, “Politics War Room,” Carville responded to a listener who asked whether “the donor class [has] become too separated from voters.” Carville thought about it for over ten seconds before stating that he thinks the Democratic “donor class” is becoming “more pragmatic” than they were in the past.
“Uh, I, uh, that’s a good question, and it deserves some thought. I think the donor class is getting increasingly pragmatic,” Carville said. “It was always thought that … they were more progressive, more liberal than the average Democrat. I think that’s changed. I think that they are increasingly pragmatic. I can’t tell you that they’re not totally divorced from the — but not as much as you think.”
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“I think that the donor class has become more pragmatic. I do. I think that’s a fair thing,” he added. “Now, there are two different forms — there’s a lot of online donors or small donors, we used to call them direct mail donors. They do tend to respond to more left-wing appeals, but the bigger donors — a lot less.”
Influential Democratic donors were halting contributions to left-wing activist organizations, citing the party’s failure to articulate a fresh vision of electoral success after its losses in November, The New York Times reported in February. Democratic Party-affiliated advocacy organizations were reportedly struggling to raise funds as left-wing organizers geared up to counter President Donald Trump’s agenda.
Former Vice President Kamala Harris’ 2024 presidential campaign and its allies spent about $1.5 billion during her short campaign against Trump, but she still lost every battleground state and the popular vote. The former vice president’s campaign allegedly finished with around $20 million in debt, a Politico reporter claimed in November after speaking with sources.
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Carville warned in late November that his party’s reputation was profoundly harmed by the massive spending during the 2024 presidential campaign. He forecast future fundraising struggles and pushed the Democratic National Committee (DNC) to conduct an audit to regain credibility as well as account for the funds.
“The resistance is going to have trouble raising money. These fundraisers are burnt,” Carville said at the time. “They’re really pissed now, and the damage that the 2024 campaign has done — the damage that this decade has done to the Democratic brand — is almost unfathomable. Almost unfathomable.”
The Democratic strategist also said during a March podcast that he was in San Francisco directing numerous party donors that “stunts” were not an effective way to combat Trump. His comments followed the president’s March 4 congressional address, where Texas Democratic Rep. Al Green interrupted the speech and many lawmakers held up signs.
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“As we speak, I’m in San Francisco with a lot of Democratic donors,” he said at the time. “And I’m telling them the last thing we want is throwing our hands in the air, screaming, protesting or anything like that.
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First published by the Daily Caller News Foundation.
