‘In The Bubble’: Documentary chronicles Orangeburg native’s quest for U.S. Senate

Harrison was born in Orangeburg. His mother was 16 and single, and the family struggled financially during his childhood.

In 1988, when he was 12, he watched the Democratic National Convention on television. It was a revelation to see that a fellow native of South Carolina, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, was seeking the party’s nomination for president.

Fast-forward to 2020, and Harrison won the party’s nomination to run for the Senate seat held by Republican Lindsey Graham.

Running as the candidate representing “the New South,” Harrison held the usual in-person events until the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the nation.

Pivoting his strategy, he raised $130 million – a record for a Senate campaign – and bought television ads, rented billboards, and held online rallies.

He appeared on Oprah Winfrey’s television show and numerous national news programs and at one point was tied with Graham in the polls.

But in a “red” state with Donald Trump ascendant, Harrison slowly lost momentum and ultimately lost the election by about 10 percentage points.

Watching it all was Emily Harrold, another Orangeburg native and the daughter of one of Harrison’s school teachers, Judy Harrold.

She decided to produce and direct a documentary on Harrison’s candidacy and was accorded access to many of the campaign’s most emotionally intense moments.

The result is a professionally produced film that gives a candid, intense, close-up look at Harrison as an individual as well as a candidate.

“In the Bubble with Jaime” premiered at the 2022 Montclair Film Festival and has been screened at festivals across the United States.

The screening in Orangeburg was prefaced by two videos. In one, Harrison sent his regrets that he could not attend in person.

The other video featured radio and television personality Lenard McKelvey – better known as Charlamagne tha God – who is listed as an executive producer of the film. “The talk that happens after you watch is very important,” he said.

The post-film discussion lasted nearly 40 minutes.

Connie Johnson said she might have been in the same class as Harrison in middle school.

“My response to this film is … having a sense of pride of knowing that not only does he have the audacity to believe that he is capable of running for such an office, to have the spotlight on him, the national spotlight, says that something happened in Orangeburg when he was a child to believe it was possible for him to be in that space,” Johnson said.

“How do we engage the community so we can rally around some child who is sitting in a sixth-grade classroom right now who doesn’t have (fancy clothes or an abundance of food) … but has enough audacity to believe that something else is possible?”

“There’s a bigger picture and it’s not partisan and it’s bigger than black and white, bigger than poor and rich. It’s about what’s possible when we have the audacity to believe in something bigger than ourselves and we start moving to serve one another to make it happen,” Johnson concluded.

John R. Rickenbacker noted that although Harrison did not win the Senate seat, he did become the chair of the Democratic National Committee, and the party went on to exceed the expectations of many in the midterm elections.

He expressed concern about low voter turnout, especially among minorities. “Voting makes a big difference. We have to go out and explain to people how it has an impact on them.”

Christale Spain, the chair of the South Carolina Democratic Party, agreed. “We have to meet them where they are,” she said.

That’s why she wanted to recruit door-knockers to visit voters’ homes and make personal pitches during Harrison’s campaign. But Harrison vetoed the strategy.

Then Spain got COVID and had to go to the hospital on her birthday. She concluded that one-on-one campaigning “wasn’t worth (risking) people’s lives” even if it cost them the election.

And it might have. “It was a lack of voter participation” that resulted in Harrison’s loss at the polls, said Barbara Johnson Williams, president of the Orangeburg Branch of the NAACP.

Too, Williams said voters need to realize that “all of the elections are important,” not just the big presidential elections.

Much discussion ensued about how to engage more people – especially young adults – in the political process. Voter registration information was available in the room where the event was held.

Future screenings of “In The Bubble With Jaime” are planned in Bamberg, Florence, and Laurens, and the documentary will air on PBS sometime in 2024.

Visit www.jaimeharrisondocumentary.com or www.facebook.com/thejaimedoc for more information.