James Carville

Infobox Person
name = James Carville


image_size =
caption =
birth_name = Chester James Carville, Jr.
birth_date = birth date and age|1944|10|25
birth_place = Fort Benning, Georgia
residence =
nationality = American
Political Party = Democrat
residence = New Orleans, Louisiana
education = Louisiana State University
occupation = Political consultant
Political Party = Democrat
spouse = Mary Matalin (since 1993)
website = [http://www.carville.info/ Official site]

James Carville (born October 25, 1944) is an American political consultant, commentator, actor, attorney, media personality and pundit. Known as the "Ragin' Cajun", Carville gained national attention for his work as the lead strategist of the successful presidential campaign of then-Arkansas governor Bill Clinton. Carville was the co-host of CNN's "Crossfire" until its final broadcast in June 2005. Since its cancellation, he has appeared on CNN's news program, The Situation Room. As of 2008, he hosts a weekly program on XM Radio titled "60/20 Sports" with Luke Russert, son of Tim Russert who hosted NBC's "Meet The Press". He is married to Republican political consultant Mary Matalin.

Early life and education

Carville, the oldest of eight children, was born Chester James Carville, Jr. [ [http://www.judicialwatch.org/archive/ois/cases/filegate/carville3.htm James Carville Deposition section 3 ] ] at Fort Benning, Georgia, the son of Lucille (née Norman), a former school teacher who sold World Book Encyclopedias door-to-door, and Chester James Carville, a postmaster as well as owner of a general store. [ [http://www.salon.com/columnists/jcarville.html Salon | The Columnists ] ] He has Irish and Cajun ancestry. James Carville attended Ascension Catholic High School in Donaldsonville, Louisiana.cite conference |last=Carville |first=James |coauthors=Mary Matalin; Federal News Service (transcript) |title=CEA Washington Forum |publisher=Consumer Electronics Association |date=2007-03-27 |location=Washington, D.C. |url= http://www.ce.org/Events/event_info/downloads/WF07/3.27.07%20Carville%20&%20Matalin%20Keynote.doc |format=.doc |accessdate=2008-04-01]

He graduated from Louisiana State University with an undergraduate and law degree.

Early career

Before entering politics, Carville worked as a litigator at a Baton Rouge law firm from 1973–1979, spent two years serving in the United States Marines, and worked as a high school teacher.

Prior to the Clinton campaign, Carville and consulting partner Paul Begala gained other well-known political victories, including the gubernatorial victories of Robert Casey of Pennsylvania in 1986, and Zell Miller of Georgia in 1990. But it was in 1991 when Carville and Begala rose to national attention, leading appointed incumbent Senator Harris Wofford of Pennsylvania back from a 40-point poll deficit over White House hand-picked candidate Dick Thornburgh. Also noteworthy is that Wofford's campaign was where the "it's the economy, stupid" strategy used by Bill Clinton in 1992 was first implemented.

Bill Clinton's 1992 Presidential campaign

In 1992, Carville helped lead Bill Clinton to a win against George H. W. Bush in the Presidential election. In 1993, Carville was honored as Campaign Manager of the Year by the American Association of Political Consultants. His role on the Clinton campaign was documented in the feature-length Academy Award-nominated film, "The War Room". One of the formulations he used in that campaign has entered the language, derived from a list he posted in the war room to help focus himself and his staff, with these three points:
# Change vs. more of the same.
#The economy, stupid.
# Don't forget health care.

Post-1992 political work

After 1992 stopped working on domestic campaigns, stating that he would bring unneeded publicity, but he has worked on a number of foreign campaigns, including those of Prime Minister Tony Blair of the United Kingdom, Ehud Barak of Israel's Labor Party, and the Liberal Party of Canada. In 2002, Carville worked to help American-educated Bolivian Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada win the presidency in Bolivia.

In 2004, he was brought in for last-minute consulting on Senator John Kerry's Presidential campaign, but he did not play a major role.

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, James Fallows.

In 2006, Carville switched gears from politics to sports and became a host on a sports show called "60/20 Sports" on XM Satellite Radio with Luke Russert, son of NBC journalist Tim Russert. The show is an in-depth look at the culture of sports based on the ages of the two hosts (60 and 20). After the Democrats' victory in the 2006 midterm election, Carville criticized Howard Dean as Democratic National Committee Chair, calling for his ouster, as he believed Dean had not spent enough money. In late November 2006, Carville proposed a truce of sorts. [ [http://hotlineblog.nationaljournal.com/archives/2006/11/carvilles_truce.html Hotline On Call: Carville's Truce?] "The Hotline". National Journal Group. 2006-11-30.]

Carville is 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.

Carville had believed that Al Gore, whom he helped put in the White House as vice president in 1992, would run for president in 2008. [ [http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2007/2/27/120317.shtml James Carville: Al Gore Will Run in 2008] . "NewsMax.com". 2007-02-27.] This prediction did not come true.

Hillary Clinton's 2008 Presidential campaign

As an advisor to Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign, Carville told "The New York Times" on March 22, 2008, that New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, who had just endorsed Senator Barack Obama for the Democratic nomination, was comparable to Judas Iscariot. It was "an act of betrayal," said Carville. "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,” Mr. Carville said, referring to Holy Week. Governor Richardson had served in President Bill Clinton's administration as both United States Ambassador to the United Nations and Secretary of Energy, and Carville believed that Richardson owed an endorsement to Senator Clinton in exchange for being offered those posts by her husband. Carville also claimed that Richardson assured many in the Clinton campaign that he would at least remain neutral and abstain from taking sides. [Adam Nagourney and Jeff Zeleny, [http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/22/us/politics/22richardson.html?_r=1&ei=5090&en=31393242dd61f808&ex=1363924800&oref=slogin&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&pagewanted=print "First a Tense Talk With Clinton, Then Richardson Backs Obama"] , "The New York Times", March 22, 2008.] Richardson refuted 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. [ [http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/03/22/richardson-obamas-speech-was-decisive/ CNN Political Ticker: All politics, all the time Blog Archive - Richardson: Obama’s speech was decisive « - Blogs from CNN.com ] ] Carville went on to note,"I doubt if Governor Richardson and I will be terribly close in the future," Carville said, [cite news |last=Sinderbrand |first=Rebecca |title=Carville: Controversial Judas comment 'had the desired effect' |work=CNN Political Ticker |publisher=CNNPolitics.com |date=2008-03-25 |url=http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/03/25/carville-controversial-judas-comment-had-the-desired-effect
accessdate=2008-04-01] 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. But 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." [ [http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/05/13/carville-obama-likely-to-win-nomination/ CNN Political Ticker: All politics, all the time Blog Archive - Carville: Obama likely to win nomination « - Blogs from CNN.com ] ] The moment marked a shift from his previous and often determinedly optimistic comments about the state of Hillary's campaign.

After Barack Obama's clear lead for victory in the Democratic presidential campaign on June 3rd, 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. Fact|date=September 2008

Career as author

Carville is also a best-selling author. With his wife, Republican Mary Matalin, and writer Peter Knobler, Carville co-wrote "All's Fair: Love, War and Running for President", published in 1995. He later wrote: "We're Right, They're Wrong: A Handbook for Spirited Progressives", published in 1996; "...And The Horse He Rode In On: The People vs. Kenneth Starr", published in 1998; With Paul Begala he co-wrote "Stickin". "Suck Up, Buck Up... and Come Back When You Foul Up", in 2001, which detailed strategies for fighting and winning in business, politics, and life. In 2004, Carville released a political banter book entitled "Had Enough?", as well as a children's picture book, "Lu and the Swamp Ghost", with co-author Patricia C. McKissack and illustrator David Catrow. In January 2006, he released another book co-written with Begala, "Take It Back: Our Party, Our Country, Our Future".

Personal life

Carville is married to Republican political pundit Mary Matalin, who had worked for President George H.W. Bush on his 1992 reelection campaign. Carville and Matalin were married in New Orleans in October 1993. They have two daughters: Matalin Mary "Matty" Carville and Emerson Normand "Emma" Carville. In 2008, Carville and Matalin relocated their family from Virginia to New Orleans. [cite news |last=Argetsinger |first=Amy |authorlink=Amy Argetsinger |coauthors=Roxanne Roberts |title=His Family Is Following the Ragin' Cajun Home |work=The Reliable Source |pages=C03 |publisher=The Washington Post |date=2008-03-27 |url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/27/AR2008032700006.html |accessdate=2008-04-01]

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 attorney Simon Leis.
*In the film "Old School", Carville makes a cameo appearing as himself, brought in as a ringer at a college-level debate society meeting. Will Ferrell then inexplicably gives a complex answer regarding US biotechnology policy. When it comes to Carville's rebuttal, he only says, "...We...(stumbles) have no response. That was perfect..."
*In the film "Wedding Crashers", Carville makes a cameo appearance alongside Senator John McCain of Arizona.
*He appeared as himself in Rachel Boynton's "Our Brand Is Crisis", a documentary that goes behind-the-scenes to show the manipulation and orchestration that is involved in big-time political campaigning. Movie follows members of the consulting firm of Greenberg Carville Shrum to Bolivia, where they have been hired to help controversial candidate Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada reclaim the presidency.
*Carville appears as the Governor of Missouri, Thomas Crittenden, in the 2007 movie "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford".
*He was in a Coca-Cola ad during Super Bowl XLII in 2008, with former Republican Senator Bill Frist.
*He appeared as himself in NBC's comedy "30 Rock", season 2 episode 8, where he advises numerous characters on how to deal with their problems "Cajun style". ("Tryin' to steal candy from a vending machine? Here, let me show you how it's done...Cajun style.")
*Appeared in cartoon form in Season 2, Episode 10 of the "Family Guy" "Running mates". Carville was introduced as the ragin' cajun and was trying to save Peter Griffin's career as school president.
*Starred in Steven Soderberg's HBO series 'K Street' along with his wife

Quotations

* "You can call the dogs in, wet the fire, and leave the house. The hunt is over." (Carville on Obama winning the White House)
* "Republicans now have their own network on Fox, so guys who don't like to answer questions, like Trent Lott, have a place to go to hit softballs."
*"Pennsylvania is Philadelphia and Pittsburgh with Alabama in between."
* "But one of Clinton's problems was, the interest groups don't care about the working poor. The Republicans don't care about the working poor — they don't know any. The Op-Ed writers don't care about the working poor. The editorial writers don't care about the working poor. The talking heads don't care about the working poor."
* "Drag $100 bills through trailer parks, there's no telling what you'll find." regarding Paula Jones [cite news| title = "Will she have her day in court?"| url = http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,985789,00.html| work = Time (magazine)| location = New York
date = 1997-01-20| accessdate = 2008-01-21| archiveurl = | author = Adam Cohen]

Further reading

*Clinton, Bill (2005). "My Life". Vintage. ISBN 1-4000-3003-X.

ee also

*Mary Matalin
*K Street (TV series)

References

External links

* [http://www.carville.info/ The Office of James Carville]
* [http://www.cnn.com/CNN/anchors_reporters/carville.james.html CNN Biography]
*imdb name|id=0142598|name=James Carville