Carville: GOP field in 2012 is 'first-class disaster'

In a scathing Op-Ed piece at CNN.com former Clinton aide and Democratic strategist James Carville has harsh words and a dire warning for the Republican Party.

In a so-called "Memo to the Republican Establishment", Carville writes, "Let me break it to you gently -- you've got a first-class disaster on your hands."

"It's been a terrible time to be a Republican," he says, then runs down a laundry-list of gaffes and blunders from the Republican campaign process that he says have caused him "great joy."

He begins with the "Tea Party Gang" in South Carolina, who booed the golden rule. "They just aren't buying any of that do-unto-others garbage."

He touches briefly on the implosion of "Herm" Cain (as Sarah Palin calls him), and points out that Cain's former campaign manager "is the only person in the history of the world that was actually barred from political consulting."

Mitt Romney, Carville says, should be a dream candidate for the Republicans, "methodical, meticulous, married once," except that he has repeatedly, publicly fumbled on the question of financial disclosures, a question that "everyone knew was coming."

This series of failures by the race's heavyweights has cleared the way for Newt Gingrich, a state of affairs that delights Carville. "I cannot personally tell you how pleased I am," he says, "to see old Newt rise to the top after listening to all of your nauseating, sickening lectures on the evils of government and the importance of family values."

Thrice-married Newt, he reminds Republicans, has yet to adequately explain what Freddie Mac paid him $1.6 million to do. He wishes them luck, but urges them to enjoy the Superbowl, "It could be your last hurrah for a while."

(image from the Flickr Photostream of J.D. Lasica.)