Why the DNC is Hiding its Post-Mortem Report on the 2024 Race: A Deep Dive.

This move from the Democratic National Committee to block the publication of its own autopsy report on the last presidential race seems shocking yet not surprising. Resistant to unpleasant candor, the Democrats' governing body behaves more like a publicity machine than a political organization devoted to building a volunteer base capable of prevailing at the polls.

An Environment of Conformity

Unwilling to break with the party establishment's culture of conformity, the DNC has continued within that legacy all through this past year. Releasing an official autopsy could have demonstrated whether party leaders truly desire to encourage public discourse regarding the errors that paved the way for Donald Trump to win re-election. Yet, the committee is acting under the pretense that there is little to be learned following the tragic debacle from the last cycle.

"Here’s our North Star: is this good for winning elections? If the answer is no, it becomes a sideline issue from what truly matters," a justification reportedly given for withholding the document.

Key Issues an Analysis Might Have Explored

Any valuable post-mortem with any value would not dodge certain uncomfortable matters. Among them are:

• Voter Alienation: Failing to retain of a significant portion of the electorate who voted for the Democratic ticket in 2020 proved pivotal in the close recent race.
• The Decision to Seek Re-election: The stubborn choice of the incumbent to seek re-election, alongside an extremely delayed step-aside, is viewed as robbing the party's base of open primaries.
• Losing Touch With Core Democratic Voters: While facing economic anxiety, the electoral effort allegedly ceding to elite contributors and not managing to confront the role of corporate greed.
• The Gaza Effect: The refusal to shift a stance regarding a ongoing war reportedly led to losing key demographic groups, especially with youth voters, Arab American communities, and Muslim Americans.
• A Decline in Young Voter Backing: Extensive evidence indicates a huge decrease in support for the party from young voters.

A Record of Evasion

Choosing secrecy is consistent with a pattern of evading difficult realities. It echoes an episode in which the vast majority of Democratic officeholder in Congress supported a sitting president's determination to running for re-election right up until a catastrophic televised debate forced a reversal.

Concurrently, large majorities of Democratic voters had been consistently telling surveyors of their opposition to the incumbent to seek re-election.

Financial Issues

A thorough analysis could probe questions regarding financial allocations, including what sums were directed to insider consultants and ad buyers over the course of a campaign that managed to spend a staggering war chest during the general election.

The Broader Problem

At its core, the secrecy regarding the analysis is symptomatic of an allegiance to the existing power structure that oversaw an unsuccessful presidential campaign. The signal to the party's base – which includes countless small donors – is that they do not be trusted to see the lessons party chiefs say they discovered from a report compiled from feedback from all states.

A political entity unable to critically review where it went wrong will struggle to escape the pattern that proved so beneficial to the winning candidate.