Democratic political strategist and commentator Paul Begala urged both parties to find ways to compromise, while frequently skewering Republican politicians, in a speech Wednesday night at the University of Toledo.

He spoke as part of the university’s Jesup Scott Honors College Distinguished Lecture Series in Doermann Theater. With the women’s basketball team playing at the same time in Savage Arena and the icy conditions outside, the hall was about half full.

Mr. Begala, who is an affiliate professor at Georgetown University, joked about conservative Fox News.

“I do two things every day — I read the Holy Bible and watch Fox News, so I know what both sides are saying,” he said. “All kidding aside, I think it’s very important to have a diverse political palate. Otherwise all you have is a vigorous agreement.”

As harsh as political rhetoric is, it’s not the worst ever, Mr. Begala said, noting that a senator was beaten on the Senate floor by a congressman wielding a cane before the Civil War.

“So we’re not the most polarized we’ve ever been,” he said. “But we are the most paralyzed, at least in modern times.”

A CNN analyst who commented on President Obama’s State of the Union Address, Mr. Begala was part of the two-man team with James Carville that got Bill Clinton elected president in 1992.

“The President put on a great performance last night. He acted like a guy who has a head full of good ideas and he wants to bring them to you,” Mr. Begala said. “But how much of that is likely to get passed? Zilch.”

Mr. Begala noted the rise of Latino voters.

He said Republicans are increasingly the party of aging white men. He said even President George W. Bush, someone he mercilessly lampooned, knew enough to speak Spanish and try to appeal to Latinos, winning 44 percent of the Latino vote.

He said 2012 GOP nominee Mitt Romney went to Latino groups and told them that immigrants are looking for a handout, and ended up with 27 percent of Latino votes. He said the rising electorate is young people, Latinos, and single women, but that senior citizens still out-vote them.

And yet, he said, seniors are the “age demographic most dependent on government.”

“You never saw anyone burn their Medicare card at a Tea Party rally,” Mr. Begala said.

“I want the Republicans to try a lot harder to get young people, unmarried women, people of color,” Mr. Begala said. “My party has a problem too. [Mr. Obama] only got 38 percent of the white vote in the last election. My party’s got to do better.”

First Published January 22, 2015, 5:00 a.m.