Longtime Democratic strategist James Carville said a massive victory by Vice President Kamala Harris over former President Donald Trump could prove crucial to the GOP following the election in November.

Carville, in an interview with MSNBC’s Ari Melber on Wednesday, was asked about a recent Politico column that cited some “long-standing” GOP figures who wouldn’t admit publicly that they’re looking to move on from the Trump era.

“Remember, Republicans got blown out in ’64 and won the presidency in ’68. Democrats got blown out in ’72 and won the presidency in ’76,” noted Carville, who cited conservative radio host and pundit Erick Erickson claiming Republicans could “benefit from a blowout.”

He continued, “So — what I tell my Republican friends — if you want your party back, if you want the kind of pro-business, lower taxes, lighter regulatory cuts, you know, stand erect at attention during the anthem, the only way you’re gonna get that back is through a blowout.”

He added that if Harris gets 280 electoral votes, however, “it’s not gonna change” for the party.

“And I think there’s a growing recognition of that — not just from kind of elite, Washington, never-Trumpers but there seems to be a sense of that on the ground also,” Carville said.

The comments from Carville, once a lead strategist for Bill Clinton’s 1992 presidential campaign, come just days after he outlined how he thinks Harris could beat Trump in a column for The New York Times.

With Election Day about two months away, new CNN polling shows Harris holding a lead among likely voters in Michigan and Wisconsin while Trump is ahead of the vice president among the same group in Arizona.

The polling didn’t determine a clear leader in other key swing states including Georgia, Nevada and Pennsylvania.

H/T Mediaite