This move by the Democratic National Committee to withhold the public viewing of its internal autopsy report on the last presidential race is shocking but entirely predictable. Opposed to unpleasant candor, the DNC often functions closer to a publicity machine than an electoral entity focused on cultivating a volunteer base to secure victories.
An Environment That Avoids Dissent
Unwilling to break with the prevailing attitude demanding unity, the DNC has stayed within that legacy throughout this past year. Making public such a report would have indicated whether the leadership actually want to foster public discourse about the errors that enabled Donald Trump to become president again. Yet, the committee is acting as if there is little to glean from the electoral catastrophe from the last cycle.
The top priority: is this good for winning elections? If the answer is no, it becomes a sideline issue from the core mission," an explanation that has been offered for withholding the document.
Major Failures a Report Would Have Examined
An autopsy report of substance would not dodge key points of failure. These include:
- Electoral Disenchantment: The loss of millions of voters who supported the Democratic ticket in 2020 proved pivotal in the close recent race.
- A Decision to Run: The determined decision of a party leader to seek re-election, coupled with an extremely delayed withdrawal, is viewed as denying the party's base of a genuine choice.
- Abandoning the Working-Class Base: During a time of inflation, the campaign reportedly ceding to elite contributors while failing to challenge the impact of corporate greed.
- A Gaza Impact: The refusal to reconsider a stance regarding a major international conflict allegedly caused alienating significant blocs, notably with young people, Arab American communities, and Muslim Americans.
- Eroding Young Voter Backing: Extensive evidence shows a major decrease of Democratic support from the youth electorate.
A Record Shunning Scrutiny
The decision to withhold is consistent with a recurring tendency of evading hard truths. This mirrors a situation where the vast majority of Democratic officeholder in Congress supported a sitting president's determination to seeking another term right up until a disastrous campaign event forced a change.
Meanwhile, large majorities of Democratic voters were repeatedly informing surveyors of their opposition to that candidate to seek re-election.
Financial Concerns
An honest analysis would also investigate matters about campaign spending, including how much money flowed to insider consultants and media firms over the course of a campaign that burned through an enormous sum over a few months.
A Broader Problem
Fundamentally, the secrecy of the official autopsy highlights an allegiance to party leaders who engineered a losing electoral effort. The message to ordinary supporters – which includes countless small donors – is that they cannot have a right to see what party chiefs have learned based on hundreds of interviews drawing from feedback from all states.
A party unwilling to critically review its mistakes will struggle to escape the pattern which was so advantageous to the winning candidate.
