This action by the Democratic National Committee to withhold the publication regarding its internal autopsy report on the last presidential race appears shocking however entirely predictable. Opposed to frank assessments, the party's leadership apparatus often functions more like a publicity machine rather than a political organization devoted to building local power for winning elections.
A Climate Resistant to Internal Critique
Hesitant to challenge the prevailing attitude of conformity, the committee has stayed within the Biden-Harris shadow all through this past year. Publishing the findings would have indicated that the leadership are interested to encourage honest conversation regarding the missteps that paved the way for the former president to win re-election. Instead, the leadership is moving forward under the pretense that there are no lessons to be learned from the tragic debacle from the last cycle.
"Here’s our North Star: is this good for winning elections? If the answer is no, it becomes a sideline issue from the core mission," a rationale that has been offered for withholding the document.
Key Issues an Analysis Would Have Addressed
Any valuable post-mortem with any value would not dodge a series of difficult topics. This encompasses:
- Voter Disengagement: Losing among millions of voters that backed the Democratic ticket during the previous election proved pivotal in the narrowly decided recent race.
- A Decision to Run: The determined decision by the incumbent to run again, coupled with an extremely delayed step-aside, has been criticized as robbing the party's base of open primaries.
- Failing Core Democratic Voters: While facing economic anxiety, the electoral effort allegedly accommodating corporate donors' interests without successfully attempting to address the impact of corporate greed.
- The Gaza Effect: An unwillingness to reconsider a stance on a major international conflict reportedly led to losing significant blocs, notably with youth voters, Arab-Americans, Muslim voters.
- Eroding Youth Support: Polling data demonstrates a major decline of votes for the candidate among voters aged 18-29.
A History Avoiding Accountability
The decision to withhold aligns with a longstanding habit of sidestepping difficult realities. It echoes a dynamic where virtually every Democratic officeholder in Congress went along with a sitting president's insistence on seeking another term until a catastrophic campaign event led to an exit.
At the same time, overwhelming numbers of Democratic voters had been consistently telling researchers that they opposed that candidate to run again.
Financial Issues
An honest autopsy might also examine matters about where money went, including how much money went to high-priced advisors and media firms during an electoral effort that managed to spend a staggering war chest over a few months.
A Larger Problem
Fundamentally, the secrecy of the official autopsy points to an allegiance to the established hierarchy who engineered an unsuccessful electoral effort. The signal for the party's base – including countless dedicated activists – is that they do not have a right to know the lessons party chiefs claim to have learned from an analysis drawing from feedback from all states.
A political entity incapable to publicly examine its mistakes is unlikely to break free from the cycle that ended up being so advantageous to their opponents.
