Democratic strategist David Axelrod reminded the Democratic Party that enthusiasm alone for Vice President Kamala Harris isn’t enough to generate a win for her this November.
During a Sunday interview on CNN, the former adviser to the Obama White House warned Democrats not to take too much comfort in the “euphoria” fueling Harris’s campaign.
“She’s [Harris] right to be telling people it’s good to be enthusiastic,” Axelrod noted as he reflected on the momentum Harris attracted after replacing President Joe Biden in a last-minute switch at the top of the Democratic ticket.
“But you have to turn that into energetic action in order to win the election,” Axelrod said.
Axelrod added that Harris needs to put in more concrete work to pull voters in battleground states into her fold to secure an Electoral College win on Election Day.
“I’ve said several times here that, you know, for [a] Democrat to win those battleground states, they have to have a significant lead in the Electoral College,” he reminded his party.
The United States chooses presidents using the Electoral College system. Harris and former President Donald Trump are vying to persuade voters in battleground states such as Pennsylvania, Michigan, Arizona, and Georgia to support their campaigns in a bid to clinch the necessary electoral votes to win the White House.
In 2016, Democratic presidential candidate Hilary Clinton won the popular vote but lost the election to Trump because he secured a win in the Electoral College.
The same scenario happened in 2000, when Al Gore, the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee, lost the election to GOP presidential candidate George Bush despite winning the popular vote.
Axelrod said he thinks Trump currently retains an advantage in the presidential race.
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“If the election were today, I’m not sure who would win, and I think it may well be President Trump because it’s an Electoral College fight,” the Democratic strategist said.
The RealClearPolitics average of recent polls indicates Trump is trailing Harris by 1.5%.
