The decision from the DNC to withhold the publication of its internal autopsy report concerning the last presidential race appears shocking yet entirely predictable. Resistant to frank assessments, the DNC operates more like a PR firm rather than an electoral entity committed to building local power for winning elections.
A Culture Resistant to Internal Critique
Reluctant to break with the party establishment's culture demanding unity, the DNC has stayed within the Biden-Harris shadow throughout 2025. Releasing such a report could have demonstrated whether the leadership actually want to encourage open debate about the missteps that paved the way for Donald Trump to become president again. Instead, the DNC is proceeding as if there are no lessons to glean following the stunning loss from the last cycle.
Our guiding principle: does this help us win? Should the answer be negative, it is an unnecessary diversion from the core mission," a justification that has been offered for withholding the analysis.
Key Issues an Analysis Could Have Examined
Any valuable post-mortem worth its salt would tackle head-on a series of difficult topics. These include:
- Electoral Alienation: Losing of a significant portion of the electorate that backed the Democratic ticket during the previous election was decisive in the narrowly decided 2024 election.
- The Insistence to Run: The stubborn insistence of the incumbent to seek re-election, coupled with a last-minute step-aside, is seen by some as denying Democratic voters of open primaries.
- Abandoning Core Democratic Voters: Amid rising costs, the campaign allegedly bowing to corporate donors' interests and not managing to address the role of big business.
- A Gaza Effect: The failure to reconsider a stance concerning a major international conflict allegedly caused alienating key demographic groups, notably among young people, Arab American communities, Muslim voters.
- Eroding Young Voter Support: Polling data shows a major drop-off in support for the party among young voters.
A Pattern Shunning Scrutiny
Choosing secrecy is consistent with a pattern to avoid difficult realities. It echoes a situation where nearly all Democratic officeholder in Congress acquiesced to an incumbent's insistence on running for re-election until a catastrophic campaign event forced a reversal.
Meanwhile, large majorities within the party's base were continually telling researchers that they did not want the incumbent to run again.
Campaign Spending Issues
An honest report might also examine questions about campaign spending, including what sums were directed to high-priced advisors and advertising contractors over the course of a campaign that burned through an enormous amount during the general election.
The Underlying Issue
At its core, the secrecy of the official autopsy highlights an allegiance to the established hierarchy who engineered a disastrous electoral effort. The implication for the party's base – including millions of small donors – is that they do not be trusted to understand what party chiefs claim to have learned from an analysis based on extensive interviews.
An organization unwilling to critically review its own failings will struggle to climb out of the rut that proved so advantageous to their opponents.
