Should Dems Rope-a-Dope?

James Carville, who famously helped Bill Clinton win with the "It's the economy, stupid" strategy recommends Dems to roll over and play dead

In a recent New York Times guest essay, James Carville made the case “for the most daring political maneuver in the history of our party: roll over and play dead.” Boxing legend Muhammad Ali defeated world heavyweight champion George Foreman in the Rumble in the Jungle match (1974) using a rope-a-dope strategy. In the rope-a-dope strategy, the contender leans against the ropes of the boxing ring to draw non-injuring offensive punches to tire their opponent out, and once the opponent is worn out, strike!

Carvelle’s idea is that there is currently nothing Democrats can do to stop Trump even if they want to (no clear leader, no vision, no control of any branch of government, etc.), so we should roll over and play dead (take a tactical pause) and allow the Republicans to crumble beneath their weight.

Carvell suggests the first opportunity is the budget/debt ceiling. Republicans are not on the same page on this topic, so Democrats should stay out of the way and let the Republicans argue among themselves: “Simply step away and let ‘em flirt with a default. Just when they’ve pushed themselves to the brink, and it appears they could collapse the global economy — come in and save the day. Be the competent party and not the chaos party.”

After the budget fight, let the Republicans push for their tax cuts, Medicaid cuts, and food stamp cuts. “Give them all the rope they need. Let them reveal themselves as incapable of governing and, at the right moment, start making a coordinated, consistent argument about the need to protect Medicare, Medicaid, worker benefits, and middle-class pocketbooks. Let the Republicans crumble.”

That sounds like a plan. In the meantime, we should stop playing defense on lost causes and regroup so we are ready to strike when our opponent is exhausted.