Clinton adviser says Democrats will dominate for 40 years

Washington, May 14 : The man who masterminded Bill Clinton's first election victory in 1992, James Carville, has predicted that the Democratic Party will dominate American politics for the next four decades due to "seismic shifts" in demographic voting patterns.

Polls show that a record low of 24 per cent of Americans identify themselves as Republicans, while twice as many voters trust the Democrats to solve the country''s problems.

Carville said the party''s emphatic win last year demonstrated long lasting, built-in electoral advantages over the Republicans, who had made a huge mistake by retreating to their conservative base under George W Bush.

In a new book, "40 More Years - How the Democrats Will Rule the Next Generation", he writes in typically barnstorming fashion: "Republicans shouldn''t be worried. They should be in agony. They should be throwing up. The Republican brand is the worst political party brand in history."

"There have been long periods where one party generally has the upper hand. You never win every election - the Democrats won''t win every election - but for 40 years the underlying dynamics in demographics stay with them," he told the Daily Telegraph.

From 1896 to 1932 there was just one Democratic president and from 1932 to 1968 just one moderate Republican, Eisenhower. Since 1968 the Republicans have generally held sway, exploiting the backlash to the liberal society.

But in the first decades of the 21st century, young voters have swung heavily to the Democrats, a crucial advantage given that voting behaviour in the US is generally set when people are in their 20s.

As an unashamedly partisan Democrat, Carville rejoices in Republican misfortune, but also claims that none of his high-powered Republican friends - Congressmen, pollsters and columnists - disagree with his hypothesis. (ANI)