The decision from the Democratic National Committee to suppress the release of its internal post-election analysis on the last presidential race is remarkable but entirely predictable. Opposed to unpleasant candor, the DNC behaves more like a PR firm than an electoral entity focused on cultivating a volunteer base capable of prevailing at the polls.
A Climate Resistant to Internal Critique
Unwilling to challenge the prevailing attitude demanding unity, the committee has remained under the influence of the previous administration all through this past year. Making public an official autopsy could have demonstrated that the leadership are interested to encourage open debate about the strategic failures which allowed the former president to win re-election. Instead, the DNC is proceeding as if there is little to understand following the electoral catastrophe from the last cycle.
The top priority: is this good for winning elections? If the answer is no, it is an unnecessary diversion from what truly matters," an explanation which was presented for withholding the analysis.
Key Issues a Report Could Have Addressed
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 became a critical factor in the narrowly decided recent race.
- The Decision to Seek Re-election: The unwavering choice by the incumbent to stay in the race, alongside an extremely delayed exit, is viewed as denying Democratic voters of a genuine choice.
- Abandoning Everyday Americans: During a time of economic anxiety, the campaign allegedly ceding to elite contributors without successfully attempting to challenge the effects of profit-seeking.
- A Foreign Policy Effect: The refusal to shift an approach regarding a major international conflict is cited as losing many voters, notably among young people, Arab American communities, Muslim voters.
- Eroding Young Voter Allegiance: Research indicates a huge drop-off of votes for the candidate among the youth electorate.
A History Shunning Scrutiny
Choosing secrecy aligns with a pattern of evading uncomfortable facts. It echoes a situation in which virtually every elected Democrat in Congress acquiesced to an incumbent's insistence on running for re-election right up until a disastrous campaign event led to an exit.
Concurrently, overwhelming numbers within the party's base had been consistently telling researchers that they did not want the incumbent to seek re-election.
Campaign Spending Concerns
A thorough analysis might also investigate questions regarding financial allocations, including what sums flowed to party strategists and ad buyers over the course of a campaign which expended a colossal amount over a few months.
A Larger Issue
Fundamentally, the secrecy surrounding this report highlights a submission toward party leaders who engineered a disastrous national race. The message for rank-and-file members – which includes countless small donors – is that they cannot be trusted to understand the lessons party chiefs have learned from a report drawing from feedback from all states.
A party unwilling to honestly assess its mistakes is unlikely to climb out of the pattern which was so advantageous to the rival party.
