LSU Manship School of Mass Communication Professional-in-Residence James Carville spoke at the 2019 Politicon Convention in Nashville Oct. 26-27.
Politicon is an annual political convention that has been “entertaining democracy” for five years. The “unconventional political convention” is nonpartisan and provides its attendees with a weekend full of panels, debates, Q&A’s, podcasts and book signings.
Speakers at the 2019 convention included political commentator Tomi Lahren, former FBI Director James Comey, political commentator Sean Hannity, former White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Carville and other professionals in politics.
Many of the talks and panels given at the 2019 Politicon can be accessed on Politicon’s website as podcasts.
Carville, a University and LSU Law Center graduate, is known as “The Ragin’ Cajun.” He successfully worked on Bill Clinton’s first presidential campaign as a senior political adviser in 1992, and has managed many Democratic campaigns within the U.S. Carville taught at Tulane University in New Orleans for nine years.
He currently teaches a class within the Manship School about American Politics, and encourages his students to be curious about politics.
Carville has been involved with Politicon since it began in 2015; he has interviewed former governor of Alaska and vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin and political commentator Tucker Carlson at past Politicon conventions.
At the 2019 convention, Carville discussed politics with both Hannity and Sanders, and also participated in a panel discussion about the Democratic Party.
Carville’s discussion with Hannity, titled “Point Counterpoint,” occurred on the first day of the convention. Topics discussed in “Point Counterpoint” included the impeachment of President Trump, the 2020 presidential election and opinions of Trump.
“The first thing is, this is the weakest president we have ever had in American history,” Carville said. “No one cares what he says. For sure, the Democrats don’t care. They’re going to impeach him. You cannot instill any discipline unless you have fear. No one is scared of Donald Trump.”
Carville also told Hannity President Trump “reeks weakness,” partly because he has the weakest polling numbers of any president in American history.
Carville also participated in a meet-and-greet session on the first day of the convention.
On the second day of Politicon, Carville interviewed Sanders and was featured in a panel discussion called “What Now Democrats?” about the Democratic Party. He said this panel was his favorite aspect of the weekend.
Carville said Politicon is a great opportunity for University students interested in politics to learn and network.
“It’s good for networking, people see your face.” Carville said. “Plus, it’s interesting. I love politics.”
“The thing you have to be is curious. How can you not be?” Carville said. “How can you live in this country and not be curious about what’s going on? It’s pretty evident that these are some different times.”
