Veteran Democratic political strategist James Carville said the 2024 White House election between former President Trump and Vice President Harris is a “long way from decided.”
CNN’s host Michael Smerconish asked Carville, the architect of Bill Clinton’s winning 1992 presidential campaign, why Harris, the Democratic nominee, is not ahead in the contest if the economy, including unemployment and stock market numbers, were “strong.”
“James, big jobs report yesterday, robust stock market, declining interest rates, tamed inflation, if it’s the economy, stupid, why isn’t Harris ahead,” Smerconish asked Carville Saturday morning on CNN, borrowing the strategist’s famed 1992 phrase, “It’s the economy, stupid.”
“Well, first of all, you forgot to drop in crime rate, which is really impressive,” Carville said in response before launching into his assessment.
“You know, she’s slightly ahead in this not the election,” he continued. “These things tend to break one way or the other at the end. There are seven swing states. The least likely result is they break 4-3. But I can’t stop the commentariat from saying it’s going to be neck and neck and it’s going to come down to this.
“I think it will break at the end, I think someone will carry swing states 5-2 or