The decision by the DNC to block the release of its internal autopsy report on the last presidential race is remarkable however not surprising. Averse to unpleasant candor, the party's leadership apparatus behaves closer to a PR firm rather than an electoral entity devoted to building a volunteer base for winning elections.
A Climate of Conformity
Hesitant to break with the prevailing attitude of conformity, the committee has remained under that legacy throughout this past year. Making public such a report could have demonstrated whether party leaders are interested to promote open debate regarding the missteps which allowed Donald Trump to return to the White House. Yet, the DNC is proceeding as if there is little to be learned from the tragic debacle from the last cycle.
"Here’s our North Star: will this lead to victory? If not, it becomes a sideline issue from what truly matters," an explanation reportedly given to justify concealing the document.
Key Issues a Report Would Have Explored
An autopsy report of substance would tackle head-on a series of difficult topics. These include:
- Voter Disenchantment: Failing to retain among millions of voters who voted for the Democratic ticket in 2020 was decisive in the narrowly decided recent race.
- A Choice to Run: The stubborn insistence by a party leader to run again, and a very late step-aside, is seen by some as denying Democratic voters of open primaries.
- Failing Core Democratic Voters: Amid inflation, the campaign allegedly ceding to corporate donors' interests and not managing to challenge the effects of profit-seeking.
- A Foreign Policy Impact: An unwillingness to adjust a policy position regarding a major international conflict is cited as losing key demographic groups, particularly with young people, Arab-Americans, Muslim voters.
- Losing Youth Support: Research indicates a major decrease of votes for the candidate among the youth electorate.
A Record Avoiding Accountability
This refusal is consistent with a pattern of evading uncomfortable facts. It recalls an episode in which virtually every Democratic officeholder in Washington acquiesced to an incumbent's insistence on seeking another term right up until a disastrous public debate performance forced a change.
At the same time, a significant majority of Democratic voters were consistently telling pollsters that they did not want the incumbent to be the nominee.
Campaign Spending Issues
An honest report might also examine issues regarding financial allocations, such as the amounts flowed to insider consultants as well as media firms over the course of a campaign which expended a colossal war chest during the general election.
The Underlying Issue
At its core, the blockage surrounding this report points to an allegiance to the existing power structure who engineered an unsuccessful national race. The message to ordinary supporters – including countless small donors – appears to be that they cannot have a right to know what party chiefs say they discovered from a report based on conversations with insiders.
A party unable to honestly assess where it went wrong will struggle to break free from the rut that ended up being so helpful to their opponents.
