A longtime political reporter said of Hatch's tenure as chair: "He worked to rebuild the bitterly divided, debt-ridden DFL Party after its disastrous 1978 election losses.  He showed his prowess, both at raising money and organization building. He raised $50,000 to pay off the mortgage and head off the foreclosure on the party headquarters in south Minneapolis, scrounged up another $50,000 to buy a state-of-the-art, 5-megabyte computer the size of a piano, and raised a total of $1.2 million. The DFL is believed to be the first Democratic Party in the country to use the technology of computers, direct mail and telemarketing."  