James Carville Suggests a 'Daring' Strategy for Democrats

Democratic strategist James Carville offers an unexpected strategy for his party in these early days of the Trump administration: "roll over and play dead." In his New York Times essay, Carville writes that it's futile to go "toe to toe" with the president at the moment. But he's equally sure that Trump and his "incompetent" Cabinet will crater in popularity relatively soon because of their policies and take the Republican party down with them. Carville calls it "the most daring political maneuver in the history of our party," likening it to a military "tactical pause" or a boxer's "rope-a-dope" tactic.

An example of how this would play out is in the upcoming budget talks, in which "the most radical thing we can do is nothing at all." The GOP can't decide what it wants, he writes, and Democrats should let them duke it out internally without entering the fray.

• "Simply step away and let 'em flirt with a default. Just when they've pushed themselves to the brink, and it appears they could collapse the global economy—come in and save the day. Be the competent party and not the chaos party."

Carville figures the "Trump honeymoon" will be over in the next 30 days or by Memorial Day at the latest. Then "we start turning the tide." (Read the full column.)