Carville's Canine Comparison: Obama Like Hit 'Dog'

Change font size:  A |  A

Let's play a Wednesday night game of WIARHSI: What If a Republican Had Said It? What if a top GOP consultant compared Barack Obama to a "dog"?

James Carville, who acknowledged he was serving as an unpaid consultant to the Clinton campaign, used the metaphor on tonight's Larry King.

View video here.

LARRY KING: What is your role, Jim? Are you involved in this campaign?

JAMES CARVILLE: I am friendly with the campaign. I give them advice, like today, I'd be glad to share the advice I gave. I said look, Senator Obama is coming after y'all, he was bragging today he comes from the rough and tumble of Chicago politics. And I said: "be ready, he put you on notice. This hope stuff, forget about that, he's coming after it. I understand he's been hit. And he's like any politician that's been hit, you know, it's a hit dog that barks, and we're going to see a lot of barking from Senator Obama."

And the Clinton people better batten down, because David [Axelrod, chief Obama strategist] and people like that who grew up in Chicago politics, they know the rough and tumble of politics, and they know how to do this, and Senator Obama today put them on notice and I hope they take that notice seriously.

KING: Are you therefore a non-paid consultant?

CARVILLE: Yes, I don't make it. I haven't taken a nickel in any domestic political consulting since 1994. But I'm friendly with them, but I'm friendly with David too, but --

KING: Is James Carville right? Is your candidate now slugging?

DAVID AXELROD: Of course not. If there was barking dogs in New Hampshire, Larry, they were barking over in the Clinton camp. I mean, President Clinton and others were out there pounding away. Look, I understand that that's a tactic, and James is the best in the business. I feel like we must be making progress if they drag the Hall of Famers out to talk for them on the air.

So, will we be seeing outraged cries in the MSM about the mean-spirited, and who knows what else, nature of Carville's canine analogy? Why do I have a funny feeling the liberal media won't bark?