Harris is quickly losing popularity with her party. Her failures in the 2024 election can’t be ignored.
And a former Clinton official put a knife in Kamala Harris’s back with this scathing rebuke.
James Carville Reflects on His Misadventure Predicting Kamala Harris’ 2024 Victory
Veteran Democratic strategist James Carville didn’t shy away from dissecting his failed forecast that Vice President Kamala Harris would clinch the 2024 presidential election.
As the campaign reached its fever pitch, Carville was a fixture across media platforms, radiating assurance that Democrats would thwart Donald Trump’s return to the Oval Office. He even put his confidence in ink with a New York Times op-ed titled “Three Reasons I’m Certain Kamala Harris Will Win.”
“The polls looked even, all right? I thought that Harris had more money. She also had more storefront locations, she had more doorknockers, definitely had better surrogates with two ex-presidents out there. Trump was going around with Scott Baio or something … And I thought a combination of all of that would be worth a point and a half. It was not,” Carville said to Fox News Digital in a candid post-election chat.
In a twist of fate, Trump flipped the script, edging out Harris by exactly that point-and-a-half margin in the popular vote and cruising to victory with 312 electoral votes.
Carville pointed to a timeless political truth he’d overlooked. “You relearn the oldest lesson in politics. The greatest motivator of turnout, of voting, of persuasion is a reason. If you don’t have a reason, you can’t [win],” he said.
“People had a reason to vote for Trump. The one reason that they were looking for, I should have taken this into more account, was people wanted some change.”
He zeroed in on a pivotal moment from Harris’ campaign: her appearance on “The View,” where she faced what Carville dubbed the “money question”—how would she differ from President Joe Biden? Her response? “There is not a thing that comes to mind.”
“She completely flubs it,” Carville lamented. “Well, 70% of people, we’ll have time to argue whether they were right or wrong, 70% of people want something different. Well, give it to them! … [Say] anything you want other than ‘I can’t think of anything.’ Worst answer ever given. Ever given.”
Despite her decisive loss, Harris isn’t fading into the political shadows. Whispers of a 2028 presidential bid are already swirling, with early polls showing her towering over potential Democratic contenders—though her high profile likely fuels that lead.
Others speculate she could eye California’s 2026 gubernatorial race once Governor Gavin Newsom’s term is up.
When pressed on whether Harris should chase either prize, Carville played it coy. “I don’t propose that somebody should or shouldn’t run for office,” he said. “If she runs for president again, she’s got to be a lot better candidate than she was in 2024. Maybe she is.”
The former Clinton advisor argued Harris might have shone brighter had Democrats opted for an open primary after Biden’s sudden withdrawal from the race. He took a subtle jab at pundits like CNN’s Bakari Sellars for dismissing the idea—a move Carville sees as a missed opportunity.
Yet, when asked if he’d personally back another Harris run, he stayed noncommittal. “Well, I mean, first of all, I think everybody should run,” Carville said.
“I have a lot of friends. I would say you should run. You know, the more, the merrier, I think. And look, she’s a former vice president. She’s a former prosecutor in a big city, apparently very good at it. She’s a former state attorney general. So, you know, to the vice president’s impressive resume, I mean, who am I to say? But she certainly passes anything you say about who could run for president. She would have to think about it, but it would be very, very difficult for her to win the nomination, but it would be difficult for anybody else.”
Reflecting on his own misstep, Carville owned up to it. “I was wrong” in 2024, he admitted, calling his prediction a “mistake.” But he urged Democrats not to shy away from owning their errors.
“The public will never care if you’re wrong. When they’ll turn on you is when you’re boring or predictable. That’s what they don’t like,” he said to Fox News Digital.
“If you don’t say something in a colorful way that sticks with people, you know what you’re saying? It’s vapid stuff. And I think the public is just tired of talking points. They’re just worn out.”
Stay tuned to The Federalist Wire.
