There was a time when I liked James Carville. But that was long ago. Here he is stabbing Howard Dean in the back:

Says James Carville, one of the anti-Deaniacs, “Suppose Harold Ford became chairman of the DNC? How much more money do you think we could raise? Just think of the difference it could make in one day.”

First off: I think it’s just plain crazy to talk about replacing any of the team that led the Democrats to victory — Schumer, Emmanuel (who I think is getting too much credit), or Dean. The twin beefs that Washington insiders like Carville have with Dean are that he didn’t raise enough money and that he spent too much building up state parties, rather than hoarding money to spend on last minute t.v. commercials. The raising money issue I think is a red herring. Remember: a lot of Dean supporters (like me) didn’t give as much to the DNC as they otherwise would have because they were giving money directly to candidates they liked through Act Blue. Dean in effect pioneered a whole new way of fundraising that in the end may have crimped DNC fundraising, but only because it helped individual candidates’ fundraising. Yes, I have no actual figures to support this. But I believe it.

And let’s not forget that the Democrats fared extraordinarily well in state houses this election as well, registering the largest gains by either party since 1994. In this case, it can’t all be the war and Bush that caused these gains — even a partisan like me doesn’t blame Joe Robach for the war in Iraq or the response to Katrina. One has to think that the 50 state strategy — with its emphasis on rebuilding state parties — had something to do with this.

I happen to think the 50 state strategy also works for a reaon that people like Carville would never want to admit. Allow me to explain: one of the things I learned watching Ken Burns’ interminable Civil War documentary is that Grant’s break through strategy with Lee was to make Lee fight constantly, which blunted Lee’s tacitical superiority since even a great military mind like Lee couldn’t consistently come up with great plans on short notice. The fact is the Republicans are better organized, have better political operatives, and, yes, they have smarter people calling the shots on strategy, at the very top. Karl Rove, though not the genius he is made out to be, can run circles around people like Carville. But Rove can’t be everywhere at once — he can’t plan 120 campaigns in detail. And that’s precisely what the 50 state strategy forces him to do.