David Hogg is Either Exactly Right or Exactly Wrong
Either way, he has big ideas!
David Hogg — the anti-gun activist and only Democratic National Committee Vice Chair you’ve ever heard of — recently made waves due to his decision to raise money to challenge Democratic incumbents in safe House seats. And the most recent wave was made of spittle and regurgitated gumbo, because it came from political consultant and Yosemite Sam half-brother James Carville.
Carville tore into Hogg when the two met on a recent podcast. “I think that's jackassery of the highest level,” Carville said of Hogg’s plan. “If you want to beat Republicans — which of course lefties never do, they never even run against them — that’s one thing. I'm not into beating Democrats, I'm into beating Republicans.” I thought that was pretty to-the-point, though I regretted that Carville didn’t call Hogg a “contemptible little twerp”, like he’s done before. I’ll admit that I’m biased, because I like Carville; I’m predisposed to anyone who seems like an O Brother, Where Art Thou? character who escaped the screen and is loose in the real world. Plus, Carville is the rare political operative who talks like a normal person — for example, did you see that he called David Hogg a “contemptible little twerp”? That’s the type of thing a normal person would say.
But Hogg made far more sense in the discussion than I thought he would. Carville is still right that Hogg shouldn’t do what he’s doing while holding a position in the Democratic National Committee; it’s kind of like how there’s nothing wrong with selling pulled pork sandwiches, but you probably shouldn’t do that if you’re the Senior Rabbi at Sinai Temple. Conflicts of interest aside, though, I thought Hogg demonstrated a better understanding of the political landscape than I expected. Specifically, he understands one key facet of Democratic politics quite well. But I can’t tell if the conclusion he’s drawing makes him a leader of the future, or the guy who will put Trump on a fast track to a third, fourth, and fifth term.