The decision by the DNC to suppress the public viewing regarding its own autopsy report on the last presidential race is shocking but entirely predictable. Opposed to hard truths, the Democrats' governing body behaves closer to a publicity machine rather than a political organization focused on building local power to secure victories.
An Environment of Conformity
Hesitant to depart from the party establishment's culture demanding unity, the committee has stayed within the Biden-Harris shadow all through this past year. Publishing the findings could have demonstrated whether the leadership actually want to foster honest conversation about the errors which allowed 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.
Our guiding principle: will this lead to victory? Should the answer be negative, it’s a distraction from our fundamental goal," an explanation reportedly given to justify concealing the analysis.
Critical Problems an Autopsy Would Have Examined
Any valuable post-mortem worth its salt would not dodge a series of difficult topics. These include:
- Electoral Disengagement: Losing of millions of voters who supported the party's candidate in 2020 became a critical factor in the close recent race.
- A Choice to Seek Re-election: The stubborn insistence by a party leader to stay in the race, alongside a last-minute withdrawal, has been criticized as robbing the party's base of open primaries.
- Failing Everyday Americans: During a time of economic anxiety, the campaign is criticized for bowing to elite contributors and not managing to confront the impact of profit-seeking.
- A Foreign Policy Effect: The failure to adjust a stance regarding a major international conflict allegedly caused alienating significant blocs, notably among young people, Arab American communities, Muslim voters.
- Losing Young Voter Allegiance: Research indicates a significant decline of Democratic support from voters aged 18-29.
A History of Evasion
The decision to withhold is consistent with a pattern to avoid difficult realities. It recalls an episode in which the vast majority of Democratic officeholder in Congress went along with a sitting president's insistence on running for re-election right up until a catastrophic campaign event led to an exit.
At the same time, large majorities within the party's base had been consistently telling pollsters that they opposed the incumbent to seek re-election.
Campaign Spending Questions
A substantive report might also examine questions regarding campaign spending, including how much money went to party strategists and media firms over the course of a campaign that burned through a staggering sum over a few months.
A Underlying Problem
Fundamentally, the blockage surrounding this report highlights a submission to party leaders who engineered an unsuccessful presidential campaign. The implication for rank-and-file members – including countless loyal volunteers – appears to be that they cannot have a right to see the lessons the leadership have learned from hundreds of interviews compiled from conversations with insiders.
An organization unwilling to honestly assess its own failings finds it difficult to climb out of the rut that proved so advantageous to their opponents.
