Longtime Dem strategist was “scared as hell” before Election Day: “I’m very worried”

WASHINGTON (TNND) — Longtime Democratic strategist James Carville appeared on MSNBC's “The Beat with Ari Melber” on Wednesday, where he expressed his fears about the upcoming presidential election.

Carville has been a strong supporter of Vice President Kamala Harris since the beginning of her campaign. However, he warned Democrats against “triumphism” after President Joe Biden decided to leave the race and support Harris in July.

With the November election now less than a month away, Carville said he wasn't entirely happy with some of the Harris campaign's strategies.

The only thing I feel is that the election is coming up on November 5th and I'm scared to death,” Carville said. “I'm not in a particularly thoughtful mood right now. I’m very worried.”

Harris, the strategist said, is being pulled in many different directions between her White House duties and her swing state campaign. The arrival of Hurricane Milton, he added, will only make matters worse by shortening the remaining days of campaigning.

He estimated that Harris realistically only has about 20 days to get her message across to voters.

“You have to be sharp,” he said of the Harris campaign. “You have to be aggressive. You need to stop answering questions and start asking questions. They do all that and sit down with 60 Minutes and sit down with (Stephen) Colbert and sit down with that.”

I would like to see her bring more things into play,” Carville affirmed.

He went on to say that Harris should use Democratic Party superstars like former President Barack Obama and former President Bill Clinton to take on key campaign issues rather than doing so himself.

READ MORE | James Carville Warns Democrats Against 'Inclusive' Campaigns: 'Having an Autocracy'

“I think she and the entire campaign need to be much more aggressive and less passive than they are,” he said.

Carville said this month that Democrats were relieved by Biden's decision to drop out of the presidential race, likening it to the removal of an “infected wisdom tooth.”

“I think it was clear that people just wanted something different,” the strategist said. “(It was) 72% wanted something different (and) 60% of Democrats wanted it.”

“The analogy I would use is that when you have an infected wisdom tooth and it gets pulled out, you feel great,” he added. “You don’t feel any better than if you hadn’t had the wisdom tooth. The fact that the wisdom tooth is gone makes you think, 'Man, I'm on top of the world now.'”

The Harris campaign did not respond to a request for comment on Carville's comments before publication.

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