On Sunday, after President Biden announced he would not run for re-election, political reporter Domenico Montanaro of National Public Radio turned up on PBS News Weekend and sounded exceedingly optimistic about the prospects of the presumptive Democratic nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris.

Montanaro engaged in pro-Democrat happy talk and managed to have it both ways, claiming that whether Harris had a primary challenger for the nomination or not, each outcome would be ideal for her and the Democratic Party.

After Montanaro admitted that as a Democratic presidential candidate Harris “struggled somewhat” in 2019 -- she pulled out before the first primary -- PBS anchor John Yang asked: “This party, the Democratic Party, has been split in the last couple of years between moderates and sort of more liberals. Is the party going to fall in behind Harris or is she likely to get a challenge?”

Montanaro spun both potential paths as wins for the Democrats.

Domenico Montanaro: ….If she does get a serious challenge, it might actually be a good thing for her because she’s likely to still win the nomination and it would show she has some insider political skills that would certainly help her on her way. Of course, if she doesn’t get a serious challenge, then it shows Democratic Party unity already, so we’ll see what winds up happening. There are certainly a lot of people with their eyes set on 2028. There is a potential opportunity here for Democrats to be able to potentially gain a geographic advantage, because when you think about the people who might be a potential Harris VP, there are some swing-state candidates or swing-state governors who might be a possibility, or senator, think about somebody like Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, somebody like Mark Kelly, the senator of Arizona…”

Montanaro appeared twice on the News Hour in August 2023, lamenting the racism of Republican base voters, and also fretting that Trump’s base is eager “to really lap up everything he's had to say” on climate change, where “the science is settled.”

This happy talk about Kamala Harris’s chances was brought to you in part by Consumer Cellular, and taxpayers like you.