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CNN Live At Daybreak

Democratic Strategist James Carville Sounds Off

Aired April 16, 2002 - 05:50   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: CNN's new CROSSFIRE host, James Carville, is known for his sharp tongue. Now he's making a point with something just as dangerous -- here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAMES CARVILLE, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: We're talking about knives today. The first thing to remember is, is that the NRA says, "Guns don't kill people. People kill people." When it comes to knives, sharp knives don't cut people. Dull knives cut people.

So if you want a safe knife, you want to have a sharp knife. Now in the history of the world, they've done some very defining great inventions. One of them is a wheel, the other is a cotton gin, the other is a computer.

Right up there with that is a chef's knife. This is what we're looking at right here. When you get a chef's knife, there are a couple of things you want to look for. You want the steel to go all the way through here, just like this one. You want it to have a lot of balance.

Now there's a couple of things in the world that really tick me off. Dull knives being one of them, dull Democrats being another. The problem with the Democratic Party today is our knife is too dull. Every time we have a sharp knife and we cut Republicans, we do better. But right now, we're just hacking away. So dull Democrats really tick me off.

Another thing that ticks me off is people that cut an onion across the equator. Never cut an onion across the equator. Cut it pole to pole.

And then when you slice an onion, all you have to do is cut right through here a couple or three times. See? With a sharp knife, you don't have to worry.

Make a couple of little dents right there -- no big deal -- and just sit here. Voila, sliced onions -- perfect. That fast. You don't need any of that stuff they sell on TV. All you need is a sharp knife.

Democrats, you don't need all this crazy stuff. What you need is a sharp message, a pointed message. Just like the end of this knife. You don't want a knife with a dull point or a dull blade.

So I'm just sitting here telling you folks, you see what happened to this onion? That's the same thing that can happen to these Republicans in this election cycle. They can be minced up, chopped up, just like that, and that fast.

If you go out with a dull knife, you're not going to chop this onion. If you go out with a dull message, you're not going to chop up Republicans. Time to toughen up.

Sharpen your knife, sharpen your message, get right with American. That's my message right here -- Carville and his knife. Look at that onion.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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