Over the past two weeks, national and state Democrats have been traveling the country, listening to constituents. Last week, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VA) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) kicked off the “Fighting Oligarchy Tour.” Minnesota Governor Tim Walz (DFL) has been holding town halls in red states, talking to farmers, educators and other people who he said, are “fed up with Trump.”
Ron Harris is a political strategist and former state director of the Kamala Harris/Tim Walz presidential campaign. On March 3, he posted on social media, "We must show up everywhere. That means knocking on doors in rural Minnesota, not just metro strongholds. It means engaging in red-district voters to show them their voices matter too."
And it appears those efforts have started.
"The key now for Democrats is keeping up the momentum. Voters appreciate seeing us out there, but they’re going to want to see us fight hard for them and deliver,” Ron said. “In addition to fighting for them, we must support them by building up their capacity to also fight for themselves and shape their own futures.”
In 2008, Ron Harris was an 18-year-old freshman at Hampton University, an HBCU in Virginia. At the height of a historical presidential campaign, Ron door knocked for Barack Obama, determined to earn every vote possible. He organized on campus and across the state. On Election night, Ron's 19th birthday, he watched as the results came in.
"I’ll never forget when they called the Commonwealth of Virginia for the Democrats; the first time in 44 years!" said Ron. "Ten minutes later, they called the election for Barack Obama. I saw up close the power of ordinary people—unseen and unheard—coming together to change the world through small acts. I knew I found my calling," said Ron.
After taking time off to process the 2024 presidential election outcome, Ron carefully considered running for Chair of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) party, a position open for the first time in 14 years. Ultimately, he declined to run and offered some candid words for his party.
In part, he said, "This is a moment for Democrats to take a hard look in the mirror. We need to learn from our losses, not just explain them away. We need to grow our support, not just manage decline. And that starts with encouraging more voices, expanding our tent, and actually exciting our base-not just expecting them to show up when we need them."
Right now, the Democratic party’s popularity is at an all-time low. On March 12, Ron sat down with Georgia Fort to offer his perspective on the Democratic Party.
"As I went through that process, I realized that this isn't the opportunity for me, not the time, not the place," Ron said. "But I still wanted to still offer some analysis, some critiquing, even a vision for what the party should be doing. I think that we are here, in large part, because either people haven't been saying what they need to say, or people haven't been listening to the people saying what needs to be said. "
*Here's a transcript of their conversation.
Georgia: The thing that really stood out in the statement to me was the part where you talked about the Democratic party not just managing the decline, but actually, actively engaging new participants, constituents, stakeholders in a meaningful way.
I think for too long, especially for Black and brown communities, we've been in this position where we've had to choose the lesser of two evils – not necessarily the party that really represents us or that we truly believe has our best interests at heart.
I think you hit it. For too long, people have been rounding up to the nearest party. It’s either…I really really don’t like these folks over here. I don’t really fit in over here but they’re not trying to gun for my rights or come for my life so I’m going to go and join the Democrats.
I think that the party could be, it should be, is not just the lesser two evils but actually what I would call a political home where I actually feel safe or I actually feel like my voice matters and the issues that I care about matter; that I'm not pigeonholed and I’m a Black man, so you're gonna talk to me about civil rights, human rights, police brutality and all the things wrong with me.
You’re actually going to come to me and say, “Black folks are actually the American dream.”
When they talk about participation in the military, Black and brown folks serve at a higher percentage of our population than any other demographic. Talk about small businesses, Black women are starting small businesses at a higher rate than the rest of the population.
When we talk about fatherhood – the CDC has this evidence, and I know that the Trump administration is trying to get rid of all this stuff – but the CDC has even said black fathers, married or single or what have you, are the most present in their kids's lives.
You think about philanthropy, charity, tithing – Black folk give a bigger percentage of their income than anyone else. We are actually the American dream and yet they talk to us as if we are a problem, both sides do.
And so my purpose of saying those words, and my mission, is to make sure the Democratic party, which is the front line of defense right now with everything going on in the country – is not just the the roundup party, but it's a party that people can call a political home, where your voice matters, your perspective matters, and you have the confidence that the people in charge are actually fighting on your behalf and not trying to acquiesce to some other group or some other entity.
Georgia: Do you think we need a third party? And I don’t mean the Independent or Green party. I think both of those parties have their place. However, what we've observed over the years is that they have not been extremely effective, especially when it comes to campaigning at a presidential level. Thoughts?
We definitely need a Black agenda. We need more Black voices. We need more people shaping the party we currently have. The reason why I’m not, yet, at a point where we need multiple parties or break the current party up into different parts is because we haven't yet actualized the potential, yet, of this party.
There are resources. There is the infrastructure. There are strong voices. There are good voices. And if they just take a couple of, I think, simple – they’re hard, but they’re simple to understand steps so that people can actually be a part of this, I think that we can actually build a party that people can be proud of. (Georgia: You’re talking about the Democratic party?) I really think so.
When I think of all the things Democrats have fought for over the course of American history – worker’s rights, human rights, infrastructure, making sure people have access to broadband – I can go down the list with the things we all enjoy largely due to the leadership of Democrats, and I think along the way, we've lost our way. And I also think we’ve done a lot of things that we haven't been effective in terms of communicating what those things are.
Georgia: So if you still believe in the party, ultimately why did you choose not to be the leader to usher forth this new era?
I wanted more independence and ability to leverage my own authentic voice. If I were the chair of the party, that’s a statement I couldn’t have written, and I think there’s a lot that needs to be said, and I wanted to be as unencumbered as I can be to offer those things.
The second reason why is, there’s a lot of people that don’t vibe with the (Democrat) party at all. And over my course of time in politics, I’ve been able to get people to participate. They’re like, ‘I don’t really rock with y’all, but I rock with you.” So for me I think I need to maintain some of that to ensure that in our efforts to grow, build collaborations and coalitions, that I’m in the best position to do so.
The other part of it is, to be frank, there is another opponent in the race and a lot of institutional support lined up minutes after the job was open. And I was like, “Eh, I don't know if that's a fight that I wanna take on.”
I think that my energy and my time can be better served helping to bring people in, helping to call things out when they need to be called out, being a trusted voice that isn’t under that paid umbrella and really doing it from a place of power that needs to be built.
Georgia: You started off by saying if I was in that position I couldn’t have written that statement. And fundamentally, sometimes I think that that's what's wrong with our political system is that we have created a culture within the political sphere where you have to be politically correct. And being politically correct is not always right or what's best for your constituents. Do you think that we can change that?
I think that more people today than ever before are craving a sense of authenticity. And so my advice to the [DFL] party and the leaders is how can you be real with people? People don’t want to be lectured, people don’t want to be shamed.
Democrats are far too cautious. I ran the Harris/Walz campaign here in Minnesota, and when they picked Tim Walz to be on a ticket, they picked him in large part because he was so good on broadcast. He was such an effective messenger. He was so effective that we started using his messaging before he was ever on our ticket.
Then they bring him in and they hide him behind teleprompters and didn't let Tim be TIm, right? The country couldn't see every single thing that Minnesotans have grown accustomed to over years. That's just one example of why I think we need people to be more authentic because that's what sells. Authenticity sells.
And if you’re thinking about politics, you’re thinking about a political campaign, it's marketing. You are offering up a product. You are offering up a service. The constituents – the voters – are the consumers, and if you can’t effectively package something to where they can accept that, you don't get upset with them. You go back to the lab and see what actually has to happen.
Part of the appeal to Donald Trump – love him or hate him – is that he is authentically himself. In some ways it’s a justification to say some ridiculous stuff, but in other ways people are like, “Hey, I don’t like what he says, but at least he's true to himself,” and I think people kind of gravitate towards that, particularly when they see over manufactured super careful and super scripted things coming out from the Democrats.
Georgia: I assume you watched the recent Joint Address to Congress. Rep. Al Green ended up being removed for disrupting. I don't think in my lifetime, certainly I've ever seen anything like that. What are your thoughts on that?
I don’t fault Representative Green for getting kicked out. He wasn't kicked out because he just disagreed or he was making noise. He was kicked out because Trump was essentially saying he had a mandate to cut Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security from people in Green’s community and our country. He got kicked out because he was standing up for people and the things that they need to afford their own lives.
In my opinion, he was doing his job as a representative. And if I’m in his district, I’m damn proud of him because you’re willing to do anything possible to make sure that my life is set up in a way that I want it to be set up. The same belief, for what it's worth, that Trump supported Republicans have, their guy. Democrats are running around the country saying we're gonna improve the system. And a lot of people are like, "I don’t like the system. I don’t want it to improve. I want to get rid of it."
That’s what Trump was saying. He didn’t have a plan for what it looks like afterward, he just said “We’re gonna destroy it. We’re gonna do something else.” He’s willing to break the law “on behalf of people.” That’s what they’re thinking in their minds.
They’re like, "This guy is willing to get felonies, he’s willing to break decorum, bust up the rules, all for me." It’s not for them, but they are under that belief. I think that our supporters should have the same belief: that we would be willing to do anything to ensure their lives, and their families and their communities are protected.
I’m not saying break laws. I am saying we’ll break decorum. Decorum is sitting in their clapping. Break decorum. Decorum is showing up to the State of the Union. Don't even validate it. Don't even show up. At least send a signal to your people that you're willing to do everything possible on their behalf.
Even if you don't have the answers of what the solution looks like, the fact that you're willing to fight, I think gives people a sense of hope.
Georgia: How do you encourage people to remain hopeful about the future of our country and also our political system?
I don’t get my hope from elected officials. I don’t get my hope from institutions. I get my hope from people, particularly coming from Minneapolis and seeing what we saw when George Floyd was murdered. Going into the community and seeing they have never been resourced adequately, and yet they found resources to take care of each other.
They did mutual aid efforts. They converted small businesses to resource hubs. We figured out how to get by – not only survive, but thrive – in the midst of some of the most calamitous moments we’ve experienced. I don’t think this is any different. If you are looking for a sense of hope, look to your neighbors and look to your community.
My final thought is this, for the [DFL] party in particular. Leadership is about advancing other people’s sense of agency. I encourage, I implore our elected officials, our leaders of our Democratic party, to see their job as such. If you can help advance other people’s sense of agency during times like this, that is actually the true definition of leadership and that’s the opportunity in front of us right now.
*Interview has been edited for length and clarity.
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