This action from the Democratic National Committee to suppress the publication regarding its own post-election analysis on the last presidential race appears stunning yet not surprising. Resistant to unpleasant candor, the DNC operates closer to a communications shop rather than a political organization focused on building local power for winning elections.
A Culture of Conformity
Reluctant to challenge the party establishment's culture of conformity, the DNC has continued within the Biden-Harris shadow throughout this past year. Publishing the findings would have indicated whether party leaders actually want to promote public discourse regarding the strategic failures that paved the way for the former president to win re-election. Yet, the committee is acting under the pretense that there are no lessons to be learned from the electoral catastrophe from the last cycle.
Our guiding principle: is this good for winning elections? If the answer is no, it is an unnecessary diversion from what truly matters," a rationale that has been offered for withholding the report.
Critical Problems an Autopsy Might Have Examined
An autopsy report with any value would not dodge certain uncomfortable matters. This encompasses:
- Voter Disengagement: Failing to retain among millions of voters that backed the Democratic ticket in 2020 became a critical factor in the narrowly decided recent race.
- The Decision to Seek Re-election: The determined decision by the incumbent to seek re-election, and an extremely delayed withdrawal, is seen by some as robbing Democratic voters the chance for a competitive nomination process.
- Failing Core Democratic Voters: Amid economic anxiety, the campaign allegedly ceding to corporate donors' interests while failing to confront the role of big business.
- A Gaza Impact: The refusal to reconsider a stance concerning the situation in Gaza is cited as alienating significant blocs, notably with young people, Arab-Americans, Muslim voters.
- Eroding Youth Backing: Research demonstrates a huge drop-off in votes for the candidate from the youth electorate.
A History Avoiding Accountability
This refusal aligns with a longstanding habit of evading difficult realities. It recalls an episode where virtually every elected Democrat in Congress supported an incumbent's insistence on seeking another term until a poor public debate performance forced a change.
Concurrently, large majorities within the party's base were continually telling researchers of their opposition to that candidate to be the nominee.
Financial Issues
A thorough autopsy would also probe issues about financial allocations, including what sums flowed to insider consultants and ad buyers over the course of an electoral effort that burned through a staggering war chest in a short period.
A Larger Problem
At its core, the suppression of the official autopsy points to a deference toward the existing power structure that oversaw a losing presidential campaign. The implication to the party's base – including countless loyal volunteers – appears to be that they cannot be trusted to know what party chiefs have learned based on an analysis compiled from feedback from all states.
A political entity unwilling to publicly examine where it went wrong will struggle to break free from the rut that proved so beneficial to the winning candidate.
