ATLANTA – As he finishes his term as chairman of the Democratic National Committee, Jaime Harrison is downplaying his party’s November elections. defeat by President-elect Donald Trump and arguing that Democrats avoided even greater losses that ruling parties have faced around the world.

But he acknowledged that Democrats must do a better job of selling the party’s priorities and accomplishments to the working class. He also called for continued nationwide investment in party infrastructure and better use of non-traditional media.

“I can’t tell you how disappointed I am Kamala Harris will not be the next president of the United States,” Harrison said in an interview Monday. But “the political pendulum in this country has swung rapidly, back and forth,” he added, and “we have to buckle down and prepare for this” to continue.

Harrison made similar arguments in a memo distributed Tuesday to Democratic Party leaders and donors across the country.

“Although the Democrats did not achieve what we set out to do, Trump was unable to gain the support of more than 50% of the electorate and the Democrats beat back the global headwinds that could have turned this scream into a landslide,” Harrison wrote. , comparing Democrats’ losses in the United States to the more sweeping defeats that ruling parties have suffered in democratic countries around the world since the coronavirus pandemic and global inflation.

Of course, it’s not surprising that a president would defend his party’s performance, even after a disappointing election. Harrison, President Joe Biden’ chosen in 2021 to lead the national party during his term, and other top Democrats were heavily criticized after Trump’s victory, including by progressives who support the party is seen as having abandoned working-class voters.

Harrison highlighted the victories of Senators-elect Ruben Gallego in Arizona and Elissa Slotkin in Michigan, as well as the re-elections of Senators Jacky Rosen of Nevada and Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin.

Republicans have consistently ousted Democratic senators from Pennsylvania, Ohio and Montana. on the way to adulthood. But Harrison noted that the G.O.P. Majority in the House will be eliminated – the final count is pending – and that Democrats flipped some Republican seats.

At the state level, Harrison noted Democratic woes North Carolina State Officeslegislative gains in a conservative state like Arkansas and depriving Republicans of outright control of the state of Alaska.

“It was a mixed bag,” he said.

Trump’s success may not be easily replicated by the Republican Party

Trump swept all seven battleground states against Harris, the Democratic vice president, and won the popular vote for the first time in three presidential elections. The president-elect carved out key Democratic constituencies: people of color, young voters and union supporters.

He won a a larger share of black and Latino voters than in 2020, particularly among men under 45, according to AP VoteCast, a national survey of more than 120,000 voters. And his coalition more and more inclusive rank-and-file union members, a critical constituency in states like Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.

Harrison said Trump has the ability to scramble traditional coalitions, but not permanently remake them. He acknowledged Trump’s appeal, but presented him as a unique figure whose reach cannot be easily replicated, if at all, by other Republicans.

“It’s the same thing with Barack Obama, right? Sometimes in politics, it’s cultural figures… who can build different coalitions,” Harrison said. “And these coalitions don’t last once they leave the stage.”

Democrats must sell their achievements better

If there is a glaring gap for Democrats, Harrison said, it is not necessarily in policy positions but in communicating accomplishments and priorities to voters. He argued that Biden’s legislative agenda — tax overhauls, new energy investments, pandemic aid — helped the very working-class voters who propelled Trump.

“Maybe we need to do a better job of selling,” he said, pointing to Republicans’ use of podcasts and all kinds of targeted media to reach voters. “There are a lot of things we can do in this space,” he said.

Asked if that meant jumping more enthusiastically into conservative spaces or Democrats creating more media and shows, Harrison said, “All of that.” » He added that he wanted to invest some of his time on this issue after leaving office in February.

A warning not to move the South Carolina primary on the calendar

Harrison does not intend to intervene on the election of his successor. The DNC’s hundreds of members will vote in February from a growing field, including two well-liked state chairs from the upper Midwest: Ken Martin of Minnesota and Ben Wikler of Wisconsin.

Unlike Harrison, who led the DNC as an extension of Biden’s White House political operation, the new president will have more of a blank slate and a freer hand — but perhaps more pressure in a party without sole leader.

The DNC leader, however, will have a more direct role in setting the party’s 2028 presidential bid schedule. at the request of Biden moved South Carolina’s primary ahead of Iowa and New Hampshire, and moved Michigan to the early weeks of the calendar, elevating more racially diverse states above the majority-white states that led the process for decades. South Carolina four years ago gave Biden his first primary victory after losing Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada.

Harrison, who is Black and originally from South Carolina, encouraged his successor not to undo Biden’s overhaul given the importance of Black voters to the party.

“We changed the calendar to put more diverse voices at the table to decide who is the most powerful person on the planet,” he said. “You can’t take that back. You can’t make major changes without there being consequences for the demographic groups most loyal to that party.”