James Carville flags 'justifiably harsh' battle Democrats must win to escape their slump

Democrats remain stuck with weak favorability numbers despite winning a series of special elections and being poised in most polls to win the midterm elections in November, veteran Democratic strategist James Carville told MS NOW's Ari Melber on Monday.

But there's a simple reason for that, and an equally simple way they can fix the problem, he added.

"The reason that people don't like the Democratic Party is the same reason I don't like it right now: We lost," said Carville. "When you win, that changes everything."

Melber put the latest data on screen, showing that the Republican Party held a higher favorability rating than the Democratic Party at 32% to 28%, respectively. Melber asked Carville what the poll numbers told him about the upcoming midterm election.

"People are part of a political party because they want the party to win elections," said Carville. "We lost the last election. You're not supposed to like us, okay? I don't like us. But if we win in November, I'm going to like us more because that's the most important thing that a political party can do: win elections. And we didn't do that."

"The public is justifiably harsh toward Democrats, as they well should be," Carville continued. "And the way to cure that is not a seven-point plan that you're not going to get through between now and 2028 anyway, but go forth and win the election. Then the Democrats will start liking you again. That's simply what it is."

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