Longtime Democrat strategist David Axelrod warned party leaders that former President Donald Trump "may well" win the election if it were held now.
Axelrod, speaking Sunday on CNN, said Vice President Kamala Harris has energized Democrats since replacing President Joe Biden as the Democrat nominee.
However, the former adviser to former President Barack Obama added that there's a long way to go before the November election.
"This is still a very competitive race. 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," Axelrod said on a panel discussion hosted by Anderson Cooper.
"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. Remember, Joe Biden won by 7 million votes nationally last time, and a margin of 45,000 votes or 44,000 votes in the three closest battleground states combined."
Axelrod, who had been among Democrats calling for Biden to step aside before the president's July 21 announcement, said the Democratic Party is in a better position to defeat Trump with Harris as the nominee.
"Look, she has made extraordinary progress. We were all in Milwaukee [for the Republican National Convention] a month ago and, you know, there was euphoria there and a sense that this race was over, that they were going to win by a landslide, perhaps sweeping big majorities in the House and Senate," Axelrod said, The Hill reported.
"Things have changed dramatically," he added.
Democrats gather in Chicago this week for the Democratic National Convention, which begins Monday night.
"So, she's right to be telling people it's good to be enthusiastic. That enthusiasm is really, really important for the Democratic Party," Axelrod said. "But you have to turn that into energetic action in order to win the election. I think that's going to be part of what you hear here."
CBS News poll results released Sunday showed Harris carrying a nationwide lead at 3 points but in a dead heat with Republican presidential nominee Trump in the seven battleground states.
Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin are widely considered the swing states that will decide the election, but the CBS News polling shows there is nothing decided in the 50-50 dead heat.
Charlie McCarthy ✉
Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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