Carville: ‘Excitement’ around Harris has to be tempered with ‘realism’

Democratic strategist James Carville said Wednesday that those who are thrilled about Vice President Harris’s presidential bid need to pair their “excitement” with “realism.”

“I understand that people [are] feeling a lot better and excited, but that excitement’s gotta be tempered with realism, and the realism is, she has a tough campaign to run, and as you say, she’s got several things she’s got to accomplish,” Carville told host Mika Brzezinski on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”

“But having said that, there’s been real growth in Vice President Harris. I mean, you can just see the difference,” he continued later in the interview, highlighted by Mediaite. “And she just looked so confident to me yesterday.”

He added, “I liked what I saw, I’ll be honest with you.”

Harris became the likely Democratic presidential nominee in the wake of President Biden dropping out of the race Sunday. She has already quickly secured a large fundraising haul and significant endorsements following Biden’s exit from the race.

“They’re having to put a campaign together right away,” Carville said of Harris’s bid, acknowledging it may not be an easy ride. “They were obviously thinking about this ahead of time, but they gotta accomplish — between now and the convention, they gotta accomplish what most campaigns have eight months to do.”

“So, I’m not I’m not saying it can’t do it, but people are excited about the party feeling better about itself,” he added.

Harris crossed the threshold to secure the Democratic presidential nomination earlier this week, receiving more than 1,968 delegate endorsements — and it is unlikely she will face a major competitor at the Democratic National Convention next month.

According to a The Hill/Decision Desk HQ average of national polls, former President Trump is leading Harris by 2.1 points, with the vice president at 45.4 percent support compared to the former president’s 47.5 percent.

A memo published Wednesday from Jen O’Malley Dillon, Harris’s campaign chair, said the vice president is in “a strong position” to be victorious in November.

“With a popular message, a strong record on the issues that matter most to swing voters, multiple pathways to 270 electoral voters, and unprecedented enthusiasm on her side, the Vice President is in a strong position to take on Donald Trump and win in 104 days,” O’Malley Dillon wrote.