Begun, the "it was the messaging" excuse has

No matter the outcome of the midterms, Democrats will still need to improve their messaging for the 2024 presidential election, Democrat strategist James Carville said Tuesday.

Appearing on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” program, Carville criticized both his own party and the media for not preparing voters enough, arguing many casting ballots believe Democrats will “defund the police,” which Carville insisted will not happen.

“The one thing that drives me nuts is that more people are going to vote today that think that if the Democrats have power, they will defund the police, which is demonstrably not true, than people who are voting today that think that if the Republicans get control of Congress, they’ll shut the government down to focus cuts on Social Security and Medicare, which is demonstrably true,” Carville said. “So I would criticize Democratic messaging and the media for letting people go to the polls with a massive misunderstanding of what the consequences of their votes are.”

[ I respect Carville’s acumen, but that’s not what defeated Democrats in this cycle, assuming they get defeated. It’s not the messaging, it’s the outcomes — high inflation, high crime, a border crisis, an ongoing supply-chain crisis, and so on. If Democrats want to compete in 2024, they need policies with better outcomes, not slogans with empty meanings. — Ed]