The thing about James Carville’s faculty lounge comment is he’s not trying to provide a fair analysis of politics. He is doing politics. And to the extent that he’s praising Biden for also doing politics, he’s right! (although I don’t think even Carville gets it.) 1/

The fact that Carville used “faculty lounge” as a synecdoche* for the nuanced conceptualization** academics traffic in is a red herring. Carville argues that Biden succeeds because he doesn’t talk like that. True, as far as that goes. 2/

(*see what I did there?)
(**again!)

But the subtext*** could be that Democrats shouldn’t talk about race at all. @seanilling cuts right through to that, so we know that Carville’s phrasing was effective at communicating what he wants to say, even if in fact there is no lounge for faculty. 3/

(***I can’t stop!)

And we did get Carville’s his answer, which was at least an acknowledgement of the importance of race and related issues. It may not be very satisfying, but remember, he’s doing politics, not analysis. 4/

Carville thinks that the way to make progress on these issues is to avoid academic speak. That might be true.

But note that he then uses his own specialized jargon. (Do political consultants have “lounges”?) 5/

The rest of the discussion is about “how people talk,” and who gets to “define” the Democratic Party, them or outsiders. It’s a discussion that frankly would be right at home in whatever lounge group identity scholars hang out in. 6/

(I also think Carville is wrong that leaders in the Black community never use terms like “the Black community,” but I’m not Black, so I’ll leave that to those who know better.) 7/

Carville praises Biden for not being in the faculty lounge, but he’s not in Carville’s consultant lounge either. Biden does not try to “go after” Jim Jordan or dredge up Dennis Hastert. Carville’s entire purpose in the interview is to get Biden to accept his lounge’s strategy. 8/

Biden’s defining political attribute is that he is a coalition-builder and a coalition maintainer (Karol 2009)**** He knows where the center of gravity of his coalition is, and he knows where the factions are too. 9/

(****omg)

A lot of what Carville calls “faculty lounge” politics is a significant part of the Democratic coalition. I think it's larger than Carville thinks it is, because even people who don’t say “intersectionality” may want what those who do say it want. 10/

Biden’s strategy is to appeal to that part not with academic language but in other ways. And so far, he’s been pretty successful. Point Carville. But Biden also appeals to the part of the party that is not only not “faculty lounge” fluent, but is even hostile to its ideas. 11/

Biden is managing a coalition. Carville is doing a different kind of politics. Most people see a tradeoff between policy goals and electioneering. Carville's a campaign guy, so he doesn't want to let policy get in the way. 12/

Bashing policy goals as just coming from the out of touch academic world is a good way to make that argument. It’s a rhetorical strategy that doesn’t depend on there being any actual faculty lounges. 13/END