Democrats are more anxious than ever. Two months ago—even just a month ago—they were feeling confident about Vice President Harris’s chances of defeating former President Trump. But now, with less than a month until Election Day, they are growing increasingly concerned about several issues affecting the Democratic nominee’s campaign. On Tuesday, some Democrats expressed dissatisfaction with the vice president’s interview on CBS’s “60 Minutes,” The Hill reported.
There are also worries regarding everything from stagnant poll numbers in the race to the vice president’s messaging and her appeal among men—not just white men, but Black and Hispanic men as well. Some of this may simply be attributed to typical Democratic anxiety ahead of what appears to be one of the closest presidential elections in history. Regardless, it’s creating a tense atmosphere for Democrats.
“Everything is deadlocked and the composition of the electorate is unknowable, and there are so many things that are unprecedented,” Democratic strategist Jamal Simmons, who served as Harris’s communications director until last year, told The Hill.
“We can’t look back with any level of security because we haven’t had an African American woman on the ticket. We haven’t had a former president running again. We haven’t had a campaign with two assassination attempts. We haven’t switched out a candidate two months before Election Day before. So it’s just hard to know,” Simmons explained. “If you’re not nervous, you’re not paying attention.”
Democratic strategist Anthony Coley, who worked in the Biden administration, acknowledged the unease, citing the stagnant poll numbers in the weeks following the Democratic National Convention. During that time, Democrats were drawing comparisons between Harris’s campaign and former President Obama’s run in 2008. “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,” Coley said. “This is going to be a fight. … These numbers are just so stubborn.”
Democrats readily admit that they have been in a constant state of fear since the 2016 presidential race, when Trump unexpectedly defeated Hillary Clinton. Since then, they have committed to preventing the former president from returning to the Oval Office, which is a significant reason why President Biden was pressured to step aside for Harris in July, The Hill added.
“We are Democrats. We are professionally nervous,” Democratic strategist Tim Hogan said. Still, Hogan claimed the Harris campaign has “found solid footing in organizing, fundraising and messaging.” He added: “There’s confidence, but it’s measured because the stakes are so high. For the next four weeks, it’s about channeling that energy in productive ways: getting everyone on the doors and phones to turn out the vote.”
