The decision by the Democratic National Committee to withhold the public viewing of its own post-election analysis concerning the last presidential race is shocking yet to be expected. Resistant to hard truths, the Democrats' governing body behaves closer to a publicity machine than a political organization devoted to cultivating grassroots capacities capable of prevailing at the polls.
A Culture Resistant to Internal Critique
Reluctant to challenge the party establishment's culture of conformity, the DNC has stayed within the Biden-Harris shadow all through this past year. Making public such a report might have shown whether party leaders truly desire to encourage public discourse regarding the errors that paved the way for the former president to win re-election. Yet, the leadership is moving forward under the pretense that there are no lessons to glean following the tragic debacle from the last cycle.
Our guiding principle: does this help us win? If the answer is no, it’s a distraction from the core mission," an explanation that has been offered to justify concealing the document.
Key Issues an Autopsy Could Have Examined
A genuine analysis with any value would tackle head-on key points of failure. These include:
- Electoral Alienation: Losing among millions of voters who voted for the Democratic ticket in 2020 became a critical factor in the close recent race.
- The Decision to Seek Re-election: The unwavering choice of a party leader to seek re-election, coupled with a very late exit, has been criticized as robbing the party's base the chance for open primaries.
- Abandoning Core Democratic Voters: During a time of economic anxiety, the electoral effort is criticized for accommodating corporate donors' interests without successfully attempting to challenge the role of corporate greed.
- The Foreign Policy Effect: An unwillingness to reconsider a stance on the situation in Gaza allegedly caused alienating significant blocs, particularly among young people, Arab American communities, and Muslim Americans.
- Losing Young Voter Support: Polling data shows a huge drop-off in votes for the candidate among voters aged 18-29.
A Record of Evasion
Choosing secrecy aligns with a pattern to avoid hard truths. This mirrors a situation in which virtually every elected Democrat in Congress supported an incumbent's decision for seeking another term until a poor public debate performance forced a reversal.
Meanwhile, overwhelming numbers of Democratic voters had been repeatedly informing pollsters that they opposed the incumbent to seek re-election.
Campaign Spending Issues
A thorough report might also investigate matters about campaign spending, including what sums went to high-priced advisors and ad buyers over the course of an electoral effort which expended a staggering war chest during the general election.
A Broader Issue
At its core, the secrecy of the official autopsy highlights a deference to party leaders responsible for a disastrous presidential campaign. The implication for ordinary supporters – which includes millions of small donors – appears to be that they do not have a right to know what party chiefs say they discovered based on an analysis compiled from extensive interviews.
An organization unable to critically review its own failings finds it difficult to climb out of the pattern that proved so helpful to the rival party.
