Veteran Democratic strategist James Carville has advice for young progressives struggling to find love in the current political landscape.
Carville had a lot to say about the viral moment from Netflix’s reality dating show “Love is Blind” where contestant Sara Carton left her groom Ben Mezzenga at the altar for not totally aligning with her progressive politics.
“Since the dawn of time, everybody has tried to explain romance,” Carville told Fox News Digital. “Poems, art, novels. And you know what? No one’s quite got it yet. And that’s the great thing about it. And I don’t think anyone will ever get it… If Shakespeare can’t explain romance, how the hell can I explain romance?”
“And so what these shows do is they try to say there’s something to a relationship other than romance,” he continued, later adding “You can’t change people’s mind, all right? They’re either romantic or they love someone, or they don’t.”
“Love is Blind” contestant Sara Carton went viral for leaving her groom at the altar over politics. (Daniel Boczarski/Getty Images for Netflix)
Carville knows a thing or two about love and politics as he’s been famously married to former GOP consultant Mary Matalin for more than 31 years and has two children.
“They asked me about my wife. First of all, I never speak for her,” Carville said. “Secondly, you always ask me about what we have our differences, you don’t talk about the things we have in common: the kids, civic stuff in New Orleans, church stuff, a lot of the same friends, our families are close. I mean, there’s all kinds of other things. And, you know. It just doesn’t come up that much. And frankly, I don’t bring it up.”
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James Carville and Mary Matalin are one of the most iconic couples in American politics because of their opposing politics. (Michael Kovac/WireImage)
What has maintained their long-lasting marriage despite their opposing politics? Keeping their work away from home.
“[When] a plumber goes home, he doesn’t want to fix the toilet. He wants to do something else,” Carville analogized. “And so I’ve had enough politics at the end of a 15-hour day. When I sit down, have a drink with my wife, I’m not left out of it. I don’t talk about politics. We generally do not. Sometimes a little bit, but not nearly as much as you think.”
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Carville says he and his wife Mary Matalin don’t talk politics at home, telling Fox News Digital, “[When] a plumber goes home, he doesn’t want to fix the toilet.” (Alex Wong/Getty Images for Meet the Press)
The former Clinton operative lamented how people in the modern era “use politics as a reason to date or not date somebody,” something he ultimately disregarded when he was an eligible bachelor.
“In my case, I wasn’t good-looking enough. I had to broaden the base, okay,” Carville chuckled. “I just couldn’t concentrate on Democratic women. I mean, I needed love. I think it was Woody Allen that said the good thing about being bisexual, it doubles your chances of getting a date. Well, I couldn’t go- I wasn’t that! I couldn’t get that far so I decided ‘Well, I’ll start dating Republicans. That’ll double my chances to get a date, you know.’ Some of it is just, you know, self-preservation.”
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Carville said he had to “broaden the base” in the dating, saying “I couldn’t just concentrate on Democratic women.” ( Dave Bjerke/NBCU Photo Bank)
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Carville offered a message to young progressives like Carton from “Love is Blind.”
“Get over your preening and your moral superiority,” Carville said. “And the more pragmatic in how you approach life, you’ll end up being a lot happier, and you’ll actually win an election. And therefore, you can actually do things and you could do some of the things that you want, because if you lose, it doesn’t do any good. It’s about nothing. That’s what I would tell them.”
Fox News’ Elizabeth Heckman contributed to this report.
