This decision from the DNC to withhold the publication of its internal autopsy report concerning the last presidential race seems shocking however not surprising. Averse to hard truths, the DNC operates closer to a communications shop than an electoral entity committed to cultivating a volunteer base to secure victories.
A Climate That Avoids Dissent
Reluctant to break with the prevailing attitude demanding unity, the committee has stayed within the Biden-Harris shadow throughout this past year. Releasing the findings might have shown whether party leaders truly desire to foster honest conversation regarding the missteps which allowed the former president to return to the White House. Instead, the committee is acting as if there are no lessons to understand from the tragic debacle from the last cycle.
Our guiding principle: does this help us win? If the answer is no, it becomes a sideline issue from what truly matters," a rationale reportedly given to justify concealing the document.
Major Failures a Report Might Have Addressed
An autopsy report of substance would confront a series of difficult topics. These include:
- Voter Alienation: The loss among a significant portion of the electorate that backed the party's candidate in 2020 proved pivotal in the narrowly decided recent race.
- The Decision to Run: The unwavering decision of the incumbent to run again, coupled with a last-minute step-aside, is seen by some as denying Democratic voters of a genuine choice.
- Failing Everyday Americans: Amid inflation, the electoral effort allegedly accommodating corporate donors' interests without successfully attempting to challenge the role of corporate greed.
- A Foreign Policy Effect: The failure to shift an approach on a ongoing war allegedly caused alienating key demographic groups, particularly with young people, Arab-Americans, and Muslim Americans.
- A Decline in Youth Backing: Research shows a significant decrease of Democratic support from the youth electorate.
A Pattern Avoiding Accountability
Choosing secrecy aligns with a pattern to avoid hard truths. It echoes a dynamic where the vast majority of elected Democrat in Washington acquiesced to a sitting president's insistence on running for re-election until a poor campaign event led to an exit.
Concurrently, overwhelming numbers of the electorate were repeatedly informing researchers of their opposition to the incumbent to be the nominee.
Financial Questions
A substantive analysis could investigate questions regarding where money went, including the amounts were directed to high-priced advisors as well as media firms over the course of an electoral effort which expended an enormous war chest during the general election.
A Larger Implication
At its core, the blockage of the official autopsy highlights a submission to the existing power structure who engineered a losing presidential campaign. The signal for ordinary supporters – which includes countless loyal volunteers – is that they do not have a right to know the lessons the leadership have learned from hundreds of interviews based on extensive interviews.
A political entity unable to honestly assess its own failings will struggle to climb out of the cycle that proved so advantageous to the winning candidate.
