James Carville, the Democratic strategist who once helped elect Bill Clinton to the White House, says he’s “scared to death” about the upcoming presidential election.
Though Carville has previously suggested that Vice President Kamala Harris is likely to win the Oval Office this year, he voiced concern on Wednesday that she’s running out of time to appeal to voters.
On MSNBC’s “The Beat,” Carville said that the “only thing I feel is, the election’s coming Nov. 5. And I’m scared to death.”
He added, “I’m very, very concerned.”
Polling suggests that Harris has a slight edge on her GOP opponent nationally, and she recently embarked on a media blitz in a bid to reach the public. But Carville said Democrats aren’t doing enough.
“They need to be sharp,” he said, arguing that Harris’ TV appearances this week have put her in the position of answering questions rather than posing them.
“If I have a press conference, I get to ask the questions,” he said.
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Carville said Harris should more directly confront the messaging from Republican Donald Trump’s campaign, including its misleading statements on the former president’s White House record and its tariff proposals.
“But we’re just letting that go,” exclaimed Carville, adding that Harris “needs to be much more aggressive.”
Carville rejected the notion that Harris, who only became the Democratic nominee after President Joe Biden exited the race in mid-July, still has a month to make moves before the election.
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“She doesn’t have a month left,” argued Carville. “We’ve got 26 days, because today is gone. You’re going to lose four to the hurricane [Milton]. … And everything kind of shuts down the Saturday before the election.”
He added, “So you’re really probably under 20 days that you have to really get a message out.”
Early voting in the presidential election, by mail and in person, has already begun in various states.