Jarrett, when asked at her breakfast interview to list her regrets about the administration's first term, said Obama and his team should have "spent more time outside of Washington in that first year."
Jarrett said a better job of energizing Democrats nationally would have helped the party avoid its losses in the 2010 congressional elections, which included Republicans taking control of the House.
Obama "didn't appreciate early on how important it was to tell" his side of the story, she said.