Can you imagine the liberal outrage if a Republican called a prominent African-American Dem candidate "Chauncey Gardiner," the simple soul from the Peter Sellers film Being There? The cries of racism might well cost such a hapless Republican his job.
But don't expect James Carville to pay any price. On today's With All Due Respect, Carville said that a frustrated Bush "can't believe that Chauncey Gardiner [laughs] and Trump and all these people are running ahead of him." Given that Carson and Trump are the two front-runners, and that Carson, while brilliant, is soft-spoken, there would seem little doubt that Carville meant his Chauncey crack for Carson.
Carson supporters can take solace from the fact that at the end of Being There, Chauncey is poised to become President of the United States.
For What It's Worth: Carville said that the only Republican capable of geting more than 45% of the vote and winning is Marco Rubio.
'Elites' See Romney as Candidate: For the second day running, Mark Halperin said that "elite" Republican circles are talking about Romney as the candidate.
MARK HALPERIN: James and I had a chat on camera about, first, what he thinks is going on with Jeb Bush.
JAMES CARVILLE: I used to say it was a little bit like a vet trying to get a pill down a dog, kind of massaging his throat. I'm not even sure that they're open to voting for Jeb. I mean, he's gotta get the dog's mouth open. Every time they have a focus group they just don't want to hear from him. So, I'm not sure they're even listening to him right now. He's frustrated, like anybody would be. I mean, he says he's frustrated and he is not really trying to hide it. He thinks, he feels like he is kind of schooled in policies -- he's thought about this and he can't believe, you know, Chauncey Gardiner [laughs], and Trump and all these people are running ahead of him.
