This move by the DNC to withhold the public viewing of its internal post-election analysis concerning the last presidential race appears remarkable but to be expected. Resistant to unpleasant candor, the Democrats' governing body behaves closer to a communications shop than an electoral entity devoted to building local power capable of prevailing at the polls.
An Environment of Conformity
Reluctant to challenge the party establishment's culture of conformity, the DNC has stayed under that legacy all through this past year. Making public an official autopsy could have demonstrated that the leadership are interested to promote honest conversation regarding the missteps that enabled Donald Trump to win re-election. Yet, the DNC is proceeding under the pretense that there is little to be learned following the stunning loss from the last cycle.
"Here’s our North Star: will this lead to victory? If not, it’s a distraction from our fundamental goal," a rationale which was presented to justify concealing the analysis.
Critical Problems an Analysis Could Have Examined
Any valuable post-mortem of substance would not dodge certain uncomfortable matters. This encompasses:
- Electoral Alienation: Losing among millions of voters who supported the party's candidate during the previous election was decisive during the tight recent race.
- A Decision to Seek Re-election: The unwavering choice by a party leader to run again, coupled with a very late exit, is seen by some as denying the party's base the chance for a genuine choice.
- Failing Everyday Americans: During a time of rising costs, the campaign allegedly accommodating elite contributors without successfully attempting to address the impact of big business.
- A Foreign Policy Factor: The failure to reconsider an approach on a major international conflict reportedly led to losing many voters, particularly with youth voters, Arab American communities, Muslim voters.
- Losing Young Voter Support: Polling data shows a significant decline in Democratic support from the youth electorate.
A Record Shunning Scrutiny
The decision to withhold is consistent with a pattern of evading hard truths. It echoes a situation where the vast majority of elected Democrat in Washington supported a sitting president's decision for seeking another term until a disastrous public debate performance led to a change.
Concurrently, a significant majority within the party's base were continually telling surveyors that they opposed that candidate to seek re-election.
Financial Concerns
An honest analysis might also probe matters about financial allocations, such as how much money flowed to high-priced advisors and advertising contractors over the course of a campaign that burned through a staggering sum over a few months.
A Underlying Implication
Ultimately, the suppression surrounding this report points to an allegiance toward the established hierarchy who engineered a disastrous national race. The signal to rank-and-file members – including millions of loyal volunteers – is that they cannot be trusted to know the lessons the leadership say they discovered based on a report based on feedback from all states.
A party incapable to critically review its own failings finds it difficult to break free from the cycle which was so advantageous to their opponents.
