This action by the DNC to block the public viewing of its own autopsy report concerning the last presidential race appears stunning yet entirely predictable. Resistant to frank assessments, the DNC behaves closer to a publicity machine rather than an electoral entity committed to cultivating a volunteer base capable of prevailing at the polls.
A Culture Resistant to Internal Critique
Reluctant to challenge the party establishment's culture of conformity, the committee has stayed under that legacy throughout this past year. Making public such a report would have indicated whether the leadership actually want to encourage public discourse about the strategic failures which allowed Donald Trump to return to the White House. However, the DNC is proceeding as if there are no lessons to glean following the tragic debacle from the last cycle.
The top priority: will this lead to victory? If the answer is no, it’s a distraction from our fundamental goal," an explanation that has been offered for withholding the report.
Major Failures a Report Could Have Addressed
An autopsy report with any value would not dodge key points of failure. Among them are:
- Electoral Alienation: The loss among a significant portion of the electorate who supported the Democratic ticket during the previous election proved pivotal in the close recent race.
- A Insistence to Seek Re-election: The unwavering choice of a party leader to run again, alongside a last-minute step-aside, is viewed as robbing the party's base of a competitive nomination process.
- Losing Touch With Everyday Americans: Amid inflation, the campaign allegedly accommodating elite contributors and not managing to address the role of corporate greed.
- The Gaza Factor: The refusal to reconsider an approach on a major international conflict reportedly led to losing many voters, notably among young people, Arab American communities, Muslim voters.
- Eroding Young Voter Support: Extensive evidence demonstrates a major decline of votes for the candidate from young voters.
A Pattern of Evasion
Choosing secrecy fits a longstanding habit to avoid hard truths. It echoes an episode in which virtually every Democratic officeholder in Washington acquiesced to an incumbent's determination to seeking another term right up until a catastrophic campaign event compelled a change.
Meanwhile, overwhelming numbers within the party's base were continually telling surveyors that they did not want that candidate to be the nominee.
Campaign Spending Issues
A substantive analysis would also investigate matters about where money went, including how much money went to party strategists and ad buyers over the course of a campaign which expended a colossal amount over a few months.
The Larger Problem
Fundamentally, the suppression regarding the analysis highlights a submission toward the existing power structure that oversaw a losing presidential campaign. The signal to rank-and-file members – which includes countless dedicated activists – appears to be that they cannot have a right to know the lessons the insiders have learned from a report based on conversations with insiders.
A party incapable to publicly examine its own failings will struggle to escape the pattern that ended up being so advantageous to their opponents.
