WNOV radio host Michelle Bryant with Jaime Harrison, Chairman of the DNC (Photo/Karen Stokes)
By Karen Stokes
Jaime Harrison, Chairperson of the Democratic National Committee was in Milwaukee on Tuesday ahead of the Republican Debate to engage with the community on how the Biden-Harris administration is working on behalf of the American people.
Reflecting on Biden’s record and the historical perspective of his administration, Harrison believes that not since Lyndon Johnson’s administration has the American people seen an administration as productive, particularly in the first few years.
Currently, the United States has the lowest unemployment rate in almost 50 years. Inflation has seen a significant decline, dropping from 8.2% when the Inflation Reduction Act was passed to 3.5% and is still decreasing. The Black community is experiencing a historic low in unemployment rates, and there has been unprecedented growth in small businesses, all happening under Biden.
“The Biden administration has made the largest investment in infrastructure since Dwight Eisenhower,” Harrison said. “Manufacturing is coming back to the US from other countries. The head of the Steel Association said we’ve seen a renaissance in manufacturing because of the investments that Joe Biden has made in the Inflation Reduction Act and the Infrastructure Bill. We are on the right course and we have to keep that steady leadership that you get from Biden-Harris.”
Because of the RNC debate this week it is important to accurately inform the American public about the nation’s progress under President Biden and to counteract the misinformation circulating from the Republican Party.
“They’re all extreme, it doesn’t make a difference if it’s Donald Trump, it doesn’t matter if it’s Nikki Haley or Tim Scott, they are all extreme and these people are against American freedoms. They are against women controlling their own bodies, they want to debate if there were benefits to slavery. At the end of the day they want to cut social security and Medicare. These people are out of the mainstream of American politics,” said Harrison.
Harrison added “Wisconsin is the center of the political universe, has been for a while. This is a very important state when you think about electoral politics, and the people in Milwaukee are key and crucial. Folks turn out here and it can make a difference not only for the state but for the nation.”
“Look at the economy right now, you see that Republicans don’t even want to talk about policy. What they want to do is scare you, they want to divide the country but Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are focused on the issues that matter to the American people, making the economy stronger. Just this week 800,000 people in this country had student loan forgiveness.,” Harrison said.
To be successful in 2024, it’s imperative that the DNC pursue initiatives or strategies to protect and expand voting rights, particularly in the face of recent legislative changes in some states.
“One of the things that I’m proud of under my tenure as DNC Chair is last cycle we had the largest voter protection program in the history of the DNC. You notice that the last election cycle was relatively quiet, it didn’t have long lines and all the other chaos because we put lawyers on the ground early on across the country. Not two months before the election but a year before the election began,” Harrison said.
He continued, “We didn’t tear that network apart after the midterms, we kept it on the ground and we’re going to continue to build on it so we’re going to be vigilant to make sure that every American, not just Democrats but every American who is eligible to vote has the opportunity to vote. We will have a hotline opened on Election Day if they run into any issues. Make sure you’re registered.”
The DNC Chairman reminded us that currently, Republicans are opting to use fear tactics and divide the country. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, on the other hand, are prioritizing crucial issues, such as strengthening the economy. This week alone, 800,000 people received student loan forgiveness. No other president can say they have done that but Joe Biden.
“The President is one of the most empathetic people I know, who has experienced a lot of pain in his life,” Harrison explained. “I think he taps into that all the time when he thinks about people in this country. He uses that empathy to do the good work that this administration has done.”