Thread by @dsamuelsohn

NEW: Allies of Jaime Harrison are circling wagons around the DNC chair ahead of a big party confab in SC through the weekend & marks the launch of the midterm cycle where expectations are indeed dire for Ds. by ⁦@adamwren⁩ ($) ⁦@thisisinsider⁩ businessinsider.com/democrat-jamie…

Last month, a faction of DNC members raised questions to Insider about whether the White House is giving Harrison the autonomy and resources allies say he needs to succeed in 2022. businessinsider.com/white-house-dn…

Some DNC members and state party chairs grumbled privately about a contentious negotiation underway over a quadrennial data-swap agreement.

It may sound wonky, but getting everyone onto the same page about data is critical for Democrats as they work to both find and excite their most hard-core supporters and stave off a Trump-fueled GOP wave to take back the House and Senate.

This week, President Biden and Rep. Jim Clyburn of South Carolina praised Harrison's first year in the post, which he ascended to after a failed 2020 Senate campaign challenge against Sen. Lindsey Graham.

At the DNC holiday gala in front of 400 guests at the Hotel Washington in the nation's capital on Tuesday night, Biden said Harrison is "doing an outstanding job as the DNC chair." 

That's the same message coming from the DNC.

Despite a Democratic loss in Virginia's off-year 2021 gubernatorial race, Harrison does have some wins to tout, according to a year-end email obtained by @thisisinsider from DNC executive director Sam Cornale to state party chairs.

Cornale, a WH-installed lieutenant, touted key investments & improvements as the DNC partners w/ state parties. "Together, we're investing in the grassroots to strengthen our party & building infrastructure to compete up & down the ballot this year, next year & beyond," he wrote.

Clyburn said on Wednesday he stays in close contact w/ Harrison, who he said "knows exactly what to do" to guide the party through 2022.  
"Jamie has not said to me that he's lacking in the autonomy…A lot of people have been writing about that. I don't know. I didn't know this."

That's a bit of a departure from what Clyburn told the AP back in Nov. Speaking to the wire service, the No. 3 House D who played an outsized role in helping Biden secure the presidential nomination, acknowledged Harrison faced internal challenges. apnews.com/article/corona…

“Jamie Harrison knows how to do that job. I fear that he may not be allowed to do the job," Clyburn said in November
Clyburn also questioned in that AP interview whether Harrison was being "hamstrung by people who never ran for anything."

In Nov, @thisisinsider reported that Harrison had limited autonomy to make decisions independent of the WH’s top political overseer, Deputy CoS Jen O'Malley Dillon. It's a dynamic that irked some Ds but isn’t really that unusual when the president's party holds the White House.

Now, much of the internal Democratic chatter from November about Harrison's tenuous relationship with Cornale and his fellow White House-installed lieutenant, senior adviser Mary Beth Cahill, seems to have abated as party officials finalized the data-swap agreement.

This week alone, more than two dozen state parties have now signed the quadrennial agreement, according to a person familiar with the negotiations, and many more are soon expected to sign on.

Even with that dealmaking, Harrison's tenure as DNC chairman remains a delicate topic of conversation in some corners.

Asked to talk about Harrison's first year as chairman, Donna Brazile, the longtime party stalwart & former Gore 2000 campaign manager who later served in the DNC leadership role from 2016 to 2017, texted Insider: "That's not something I feel like talking about on my birthday."

For his part, Clyburn said he thinks Harrison is on solid footing as Democrats head into what's anticipated to be a bruising midterm election campaign.

“Jamie knows what needs to be done," the 15-term South Carolina congressman told @thisisinsider. He knows how to do it. And I'm hopeful that he will be given the autonomy as necessary to do it."

Check out the full @adamwren report here w/ a @thisisinsider subscription businessinsider.com/democrat-jamie…