CNN’s David Axelrod has been bearish on Democrats’ chances of holding the White House after November and the nomination of Vice President Kamala Harris has not soothed his concerns.
Axelrod said Saturday night that although the Democratic Party has been rejuvenated with President Joe Biden dropping out of the race, the election is still former President Donald Trump’s to lose.
Discussing the state of the race on CNN Newsroom, anchor Jessica Dean asked the Democratic strategist about how Trump’s team has handled the addition of Harris at the top of the Democratic ticket.
“I think there’s a there’s a justifiable sense of concern in his camp that this thing could get away from him,” Axelrod said. “It may be their race to lose but it’s a race so it could be lost, which is something they didn’t feel when they left that convention in Milwaukee.
Dean noted Harris could portray herself as a prosecutor on a debate stage contrasted against Trump – who was convicted of 34 felonies in New York earlier this year – should the two agree to a debate.
Axelrod pointed out that Trump is also now the older candidate and that while polling shows things are tight, Democrats would be wise to taper their expectations. Axelrod said:
Look, I mean, there’s a lot of irrational exuberance on the side of on the Democratic side of the aisle right now, because
there was despair for some period of time about what the November was gonna look like. Now people feel like there’s a chance. But it’s absolutely Trump’s race to lose right now. He is ahead. and he is ahead in most of the battleground states. They’re close, they can be won by either candidate.
Axelrod concluded, “I think it’s a wide-open race but Trump has the advantage right now and everybody should be sober about that on the Democratic side.”
Watch above via CNN.