Dem strategists fret Harris ‘sugar high’ is over: ‘If you’re not nervous, you’re not paying attention’

Democratic strategists are calling on the Harris campaign to get more aggressive amid concerns her early momentum, spurred largely by Harris’ debate performance and the Democratic National Convention, has waned due to a number of factors.

“I’m scared to death,” Democratic strategist James Carville said Wednesday. 

“Now that the sugar high is gone, people have realized what Kamala Harris has said from the start, which is that she is the underdog,” Anthony Coley, a former Biden and Obama staffer turned political consultant, told The Hill. 

“If you’re not nervous, you’re not paying attention,” former Harris communications director Jamal Simmons added.

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David Axelrod, former White House senior adviser to former President Obama, speaks to a guest at an event at the White House in 2009. (Joshua Roberts-Pool/Getty Images)

Meanwhile, David Axelrod, widely regarded as the political mastermind behind former President Obama’s 2008 victory, recognized that “Harris had a great launch, right through the convention and the debate,” but he acknowledged “the race has plateaued.” 

Carville’s remarks that he is “scared to death” about Nov. 5 came during an interview with MSNBC’s Ari Melber. Carville estimated that with Hurricane Milton dominating the news cycle, Harris only has about 20 days to amplify her messaging.

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An anonymous Democratic strategist told The Hill that Harris is still “fine-tuning her message” way too close to Election Day. “We are in the ‘make the sale’ phase of the campaign now. We’re not still tweaking the message,” the strategist pointed out.  

Some of the criticism from Democratic strategists also included suggestions the Harris campaign get more aggressive.

“They need to be sharp. They need to be aggressive. They need to stop answering questions and start asking questions,” Carville insisted on Wednesday. “I think she and the whole campaign need to be much more aggressive and much less passive than they are.”

Political commentator James Carville is seen ahead of the Democratic National Convention in August. (Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“In these campaigns, every time you clear a bar, the bar gets raised,” added Axelrod. “You have to lift your game and adjust your strategy.”

With Election Day rapidly approaching, polling in three critical battleground states show former President Trump making gains, but the race still remains a toss-up between the two candidates. 

According to polling from Quinnipiac University, Harris is maintaining a 3-point advantage over Trump in battleground Pennsylvania. However, that is a drop from Harris’ 6-point lead in Quinnipiac’s September polling of Pennsylvania voters. 

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Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Trump. (Getty Images)

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Quinnipiac polling in Michigan shows Trump with a 3-point edge, and it shows him with a 2-point advantage in Wisconsin. Quinnipiac’s Michigan polling last month had Harris leading by 5 points, while its Wisconsin polling had her at a 1-point advantage over Trump. 

“That was then, this is now,” said Tim Malloy, a polling analyst at Quinnipiac. “The Harris post-debate starburst dims to a glow as Harris enters the last weeks slipping slightly in the Rust Belt.”