Carville, James (1944–)

JAMES CARVILLE has been described as a grandmaster at the chessboard of politics by at least one historian. With Paul Begala, Carville set the communications strategy for Bill Clinton's 1992 presidential victory. Born in Carville, Louisiana—a town named for his grandfather—and famed for his blunt, hard-driving style, the “Ragin’ Cajun” is credited with focusing the Clinton campaign's easy-to-understand expression of its political priorities.

Carville's first campaign work occurred while he was still a student at Ascension Catholic High School in [Page 64]1959. He worked on a Louisiana state legislature race, distributing literature and posting signs for candidate Price LeBlanc. In 1962, Carville graduated from high school and began college at Louisiana State University (LSU). He left after a couple of years and joined the U.S. Marines. After his two-year service expired, Carville returned to LSU to complete his college degree. Between finishing his undergraduate degree and returning for his law degree, Carville worked as a high school science teacher. From 1973 to 1979, he practiced law in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Carville began his formal, professional campaign work in 1980. Over the next 10 years, he worked on many campaigns, including those of Robert P. Casey in the 1986 and 1990 Pennsylvania gubernatorial elections and Harris Wofford in the 1991 Pennsylvania senatorial election. In 1989, he and his long-standing collaborator, Begala, formed Carville and Begala, a political consulting firm. The 1991 Wofford campaign highlighted their approach to politicking.

Wofford had begun the election polling 47 points behind his opponent, Richard Thornburgh, a former Pennsylvania governor and attorney general under Ronald Reagan. Carville and Begala helped Wofford win the election by focusing his campaign on a few topics, such as health insurance, which were critical for the everyday voter, matters that transcended political ideologies. This sharp, seemingly nonpartisan approach led Wofford to victory and brought Carville and Begala national prominence as campaign strategists for Democrats seeking office.

The then-governor of Arkansas, Clinton, was one of several Democrats seeking the Democratic presidential nomination. Right after the Wofford election, Carville and Begala agreed to work with Clinton, bringing their laserlike style of campaign strategy and message development to the eventual Democratic nominee. This discipline helped Clinton secure the nomination and survive many political flashfires, such as those of Gennifer Flowers, who accused Clinton of having an affair with her, and of Clinton's student status, which kept him ineligible for the draft during the Vietnam War.

Ultimately, although both Carville and Begala were working on the campaign, Carville spearheaded the campaign's move to the top of the polls by articulating its focus on the economy and on the costs of incumbent George H. W. Bush's promises about no new taxes. Carville's blunt phrasing, “It's the economy, stupid,” captured the ordinary voter's concerns about Bush and became the rallying cry of the successful campaign.

After Clinton won the 1992 election, Carville continued to serve as a media adviser for the president. During the Whitewater investigations of 1996–98, Carville staunchly defended the president even though he no longer had a formal role with the White House.

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