James Carville dismisses concerns that Democrats don't have a strong presidential bench for 2028: 'So many people, it's breathtaking'

• James Carville recently gushed to The Hill about the potential 2028 Democratic presidential bench.
• With Biden running for reelection in 2024, many in the party are already looking toward the future.

Veteran Democratic strategist James Carville in a recent interview dismissed any intraparty concerns about the 2028 presidential bench, arguing that there are a wealth of candidates who'd be well-suited to succeed President Joe Biden in the White House.

While speaking with The Hill, Carville, who in 1992 was a top political advisor for then-Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton's successful 1992 presidential bid, said that Democrats had a deep reservoir of talent as it looks to the future.

With Biden seeking reelection next year and a level of uncertainty about Vice President Kamala Harris' political prospects in 2028, some Democrats have looked to the slew of governors and senators who have become recognizable under the glare of the national media in recent years.

And Carville already has his eye on some of the highest-profile Democratic politicians out there.

"So many people, it's breathtaking. The level of talent in the Democratic party in 2023 is — and I say this with great confidence — is as high as any political party has ever had in my lifetime, which is 1944," Carville told the publication.

"You find me somebody more talented than a [Pennsylvania Gov.] Josh Shapiro or [Georgia Sen. Raphael] Warnock or [Maryland Gov.] Wes Moore or [Kentucky Gov.] Andy Beshear or [Michigan Gov.] Gretchen Whitmer, [former New Orleans Mayor] Mitch Landrieu, [North Carolina Gov.] Roy Cooper, I ain't seen them," he continued. "These are some staggeringly talented politicians. If they ever got out in the open and people saw them, holy moly."

Carville told The Hill that the perception of a large GOP farm team and a small Democratic bench was not the reality that he sees as he envisions a 2028 Democratic primary.

"The greatest myth in American politics is — I hear this all the time — well James, we don't have any bench. Are you shitting me?" he said. "We got a bench that's 100. The whole sideline is our bench."

The Louisiana native also brought up Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, Arizona Rep. Ruben Gallego, and Colorado Gov. Jared Polis as potential candidates, while once again remarking on Shapiro.

"I said this after the 2022 [midterms], Josh Shapiro might have run one of the most impressive statewide campaigns I've ever seen," Carville said of the Pennsylvania governor's landslide election victory last November.

"And they opened the f----- interstate in three weeks," he said, referring to the quick repair of a segment of Interstate 95 in Philadelphia that had collapsed after a major accident in June.

"The Democratic bench is really long," Carville added.