Richardson, Carville spar on Larry King Live

Gov. Bill Richardson and Clintonista James Carville fought on CNN’s Larry King Live on Wednesday evening about the Democratic presidential primary.

There wasn’t much sparring between the two about the spat that erupted when Richardson endorsed Barack Obama last month. At the time, Carville compared Richardson’s endorsement to Judas’ betrayal of Jesus, and a nasty fight ensued.

The most poignant moment in the show came when Richardson accused Hillary Clinton of “clinging to the throne” and trying to change the rules in the middle of the primary season because she believes she’s entitled to the presidency.

“You know, we’re America, we’re not Monaco,” Richardson said.

Carville called Richardson’s words “idiocy” and “foolishness.” He repeatedly pointed out that people are voting and the race is continuing.

They argued about who is winning the popular vote, which depends on whether votes cast in Florida and Michigan are counted. Richardson rightly pointed out that, early in the race, all candidates including Clinton agreed not to campaign in those states because they rejected the DNC calendar and moved up their primary dates. The DNC vowed to not seat delegates from those states.

But Clinton now wants the delegates from those states to be seated, and she’s using the votes in those contests to argue that she’s winning the popular vote. Richardson called that “lunacy.”

“This is what I’m talking about with the Clinton campaign,” he said. “All of the sudden the presidency is slipping away, and they’ll do anything to keep that.”

Richardson was also quick to point out that Obama didn’t appear on the ballot in Michigan because their delegates weren’t supposed to be counted.

The fight over Michigan and Florida is a difficult problem for the Democratic Party. It’s trying to control the primary process, but not seating delegates from those states could discourage voters in two important states.

Carville rightly accused Obama of dodging additional debates in North Carolina and Indiana. Richardson defended Obama by saying the 20 debates that have been held are enough.

“It’s not as if one more debate is going to make a terrible bit of difference,” he said.

Richardson frequently said Clinton can’t win the primary race, but he also said she should not drop out at this point. He said voters in the remaining states should get to vote, and then, after June 3, it will be clear – as he said it already is – that she can’t win. He said at that point, Democrats should unite behind Obama.

“The worst thing we can do is continue this negativity, this backbiting,” he said. “… the ending is fairly clear.”

It should be pointed out that Richardson is repeatedly complaining about the negativity in the race, but he engaged in it, to some degree, during the Wednesday show.

You can watch highlights from the exchange by clicking here.