This decision by the Democratic National Committee to block the public viewing of its internal post-election analysis concerning the last presidential race seems stunning yet not surprising. Resistant to hard truths, the Democrats' governing body behaves closer to a PR firm rather than an electoral entity devoted to cultivating local power to secure victories.
A Culture of Conformity
Reluctant to depart from the party establishment's culture of conformity, the committee has remained under that legacy all through this past year. Publishing the findings might have shown that the leadership truly desire to encourage honest conversation regarding the errors which allowed Donald Trump to return to the White House. However, the committee is acting as if there is little to be learned following the electoral catastrophe from the last cycle.
Our guiding principle: does this help us win? If not, it becomes a sideline issue from our fundamental goal," a justification that has been offered for withholding the document.
Critical Problems an Autopsy Would Have Addressed
Any valuable post-mortem with any value would confront key points of failure. Among them are:
- Electoral Disenchantment: Failing to retain among a significant portion of the electorate who supported the party's candidate during the previous election proved pivotal in the close recent race.
- The Insistence to Run: The stubborn decision of a party leader to stay in the race, alongside a very late step-aside, has been criticized as robbing Democratic voters the chance for a genuine choice.
- Failing the Working-Class Base: During a time of economic anxiety, the electoral effort reportedly accommodating corporate donors' interests and not managing to address the role of big business.
- A Foreign Policy Impact: The failure to shift an approach regarding the situation in Gaza reportedly led to losing many voters, particularly with youth voters, Arab American communities, Muslim voters.
- Losing Youth Allegiance: Extensive evidence indicates a significant decrease of Democratic support from young voters.
A History Avoiding Accountability
The decision to withhold aligns with a recurring tendency to avoid difficult realities. This mirrors a situation where nearly all elected Democrat in Washington acquiesced to a sitting president's insistence on seeking another term right up until a poor public debate performance compelled an exit.
Meanwhile, overwhelming numbers of the electorate were continually telling researchers that they opposed that candidate to be the nominee.
Financial Issues
A substantive report could probe questions regarding where money went, such as how much money were directed to party strategists as well as ad buyers over the course of a campaign that burned through an enormous amount in a short period.
A Broader Issue
Ultimately, the blockage of the official autopsy highlights an allegiance toward party leaders who engineered a losing presidential campaign. The implication to the party's base – including millions of small donors – is that they cannot have a right to see what the insiders claim to have learned from hundreds of interviews compiled from extensive interviews.
An organization incapable to publicly examine its own failings finds it difficult to climb out of the cycle that ended up being so beneficial to the rival party.
