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Carville: We Must Acknowledge Clinton's Negatives Are Higher Than People Would Like

May 12, 2016

Former Bill Clinton campaign guru James Carville told a Morning Joe panel Thursday that it's a problem that Hillary Clinton's negatives are so high and people should acknowledge this fact.

Carville continued this discussion on MSNBC to add that Clinton really needs to improve her narrative to the public.

Journalist Mike Barnicle started this discussion by giving the Democratic strategist a hypothetical situation.

"Okay, it's the middle of September," Barnicle said. "Change is the essential item on the table for most Americans. Looking for directions, looking for hope, looking for the future. Donald Trump has tried to eviscerate the Clintons personally, gone after the former President of the United States. You have a candidate running against Donald Trump, Secretary Clinton, and unfortunately for her, and it's cosmetics only, a lot of men in this country look at her, hear her, and all they can think of is someone telling them, ‘get back into class, home-room is over.’ What do you do? How do you run that campaign?"

This is when Carville brought up Clinton's two main weaknesses in her campaign: her higher than expected negatives and her narrative.

"First of all, I think there is a problem that her negatives are higher than people would like," he said. "Acknowledge that. I think that you've got to have a good summer."

Carville added that Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) isn't being held to the same standard on the campaign trail as Clinton, since as he pointed out earlier in the interview, Clinton will be the eventual nominee.

He then explained her narrative problem.

"I think there's a lot of things out there that they can say and they can weave a better narrative," Carville said. "Look, they have been running against a guy, Bernie Sanders, you know, his promise $18 trillion and $33 trillion in new spending. He doesn't get the same scrutiny, nor should he, because he's not going to be the nominee. She's got—I think her narrative has to really get better. She's got to be more change.

"Her whole life has been about changing things. I mean, in some ways, she's been almost a pioneer in her career. They got to tell that story better. But, you're right. They do have a problem. They do have a problem."

The Washington Post reported April 20 that if Clinton and Trump were to become the nominees, "they will start the general-election campaign as the two least popular major party nominees in more than two decades—and likely ever."