How do Democrats defeat the first reality TV president?
With a Democratic National Committee (DNC) chair with TV experience of her own, according to DNC hopeful Jehmu Greene.
“It became very clear to me the DNC needed a seasoned organizer and someone who can be a fierce messenger against conservatives and Republicans who lie for a living,” Greene said in an interview with The Hill.
“And I’ve been doing that for six-and-a-half years and winning with the truth at Fox News.”
Greene, a former organizer and campaign staffer, is the latest entrant into the crowded race to be the next DNC chair, following an election cycle that saw wide-ranging defeat for Democrats.
In a male-dominated candidate field, Greene — the daughter of Liberian immigrants — said she didn’t want to wait for more women or candidates with prior experience at the national committee to jump into the race.
Since leaving Fox News to pursue a DNC bid, Greene has been interviewed on the channel, giving a preview of the type of messaging she’d likely employ as chairwoman.
She sparred with Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson over Russian influence in the 2016 presidential election and race relations, as well as the lessons learned for Democrats.
In her interview with The Hill, Greene, 44, touted her previous work at the DNC, serving in several roles including director of Women’s Outreach and Southern political director. She also worked on the Credentials Committee for the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston.
Greene has campaign experience that spans from congressional to gubernatorial races to former President Clinton’s 1996 reelection campaign.
Greene argues that her knowledge of how the DNC operates is critical for the party. Going forward, in Greene’s telling, the national party needs to be restructured and become more in sync with its members. Looking beyond former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean’s signature 50-state strategy during his DNC chairmanship, a frequent refrain during this DNC race, Greene wants state parties to “embrace experimentation.”
“I know the barriers that the DNC as an entity puts up to divide the operation from the DNC members. We can’t afford to do that anymore,” she said. “I’m the only candidate who understands the institution from the inside-out.”
Greene has entered a race that’s dominated nearly entirely by Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) and former Labor Secretary Tom Perez.
Just a week after the November elections, Ellison announced his run for DNC chair. A number of high-profile lawmakers quickly rallied around him, including Senate Democratic Leader Charles Schumer
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While former President Obama won’t officially endorse, he’s heaped praise on Perez, his former Cabinet official, while members of the past administration also appear to back Perez’s bid.
The other candidates include South Carolina Democratic Party Chairman Jaime Harrison, New Hampshire Democratic Party Chairman Raymond Buckley, Idaho Democratic Party executive director Sally Boynton Brown and Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Ind. The DNC’s 447 voting members will convene in Atlanta in late February to decide who will helm the troubled party.
Greene, who jumped in a little more than a month before the election, has yet to score a single public endorsement, though she’s lobbing calls at the hundreds of DNC members who will decide the party’s next leader.
Some Democrats view Greene as a long-shot candidate due to her late entry and lack of support, questioning why the lesser-known Greene didn’t instead opt to run for DNC vice chair, where there are more openings on the committee’s leadership.
“She’s a talent and understands the committee from her time there, so why jump into the crowded field for DNC chair rather than a vice chair slot where we have a slew of candidates who are young and fresh and there are three open slots?” said Democratic strategist Andrew Feldman.
“Here, I think she’ll struggle to gain traction, as we’ve heard more about the other lesser-knowns than her.”
Greene has pushed back on the narrative of the race, chastising top party leaders for endorsing other candidates before the rest of the field began to take shape. She also condemned the depiction of the race as a proxy fight from the 2016 Democratic presidential primaries, with Ellison rallying Sanders supporters and Perez attracting former Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton
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“It’s disturbing how not just party leaders wanted to wrap this up very quickly, but the media seems to think this is not a debate and a detailed assessment of ideas that needs to happen in this critical time for the Democratic Party,” Greene said.
Greene insists that she’s not using her candidacy as DNC chair as a launching pad for future roles, a frequent charge for lesser-known DNC chair hopefuls. She said she has no interest in running for elected office, arguing that a politician should not helm the fractured party — a not-so-veiled shot at Ellison.
“I’m not running for Congress; I’m not running for a future platform,” Greene said. “If we keep doing the same things, it’s asinine to think that we can expect different results.
“Now is not the time for us to put another politician in this position. I have no interest, no ambition to run for office. This is my next.”
Studying the fallout of the 2016 presidential election, Democrats have seen that the party suffered from a lack of voter enthusiasm for Clinton, in contrast to young voters’ excitement for Sanders during the primaries.
As a former president of Rock the Vote, Greene emphasized the need to focus on encouraging millennials to vote and participate in electoral politics. She has proposed that, starting this year, she would allocate $40 million in party funds for engaging the younger generation.
In addition to millennials, Greene argued that the party must also focus on appealing to African-Americans, especially women.
Democrats are trying to reorient their focus on middle America and white working-class voters after their lack of support in the last election caused Clinton to lose Rust Belt states that typically trend blue.
Greene argued, however, that Democrats shouldn’t abandon their focus on African-Americans.
“We are the bedrock of the party,” she said. “They, too, are looking and saying, ‘Where are we in this conversation?’
“The overcompensation of ‘we have to focus all of our efforts on white working-class voters that the party left’ — how does that speak to the bedrock of the party that turns out time and time again to vote for our candidates?”
Greene said that the party must now focus on rebuilding its image and messaging, especially in the face of a media-savvy president. But a former DNC official cautioned that the next party chair should be about trying to be a jack-of-all-trades and finding a way to strike a balance.
“You can’t be a hard-hitting TV spokesperson on every issue and at the same time be the conciliatory person who unites all Democrats,” the former official said.
“Someone needs to look seriously at splitting up the roles, or the chair needs to embrace one role and empower staff to do the other pieces.”
Jonathan Easley contributed.
