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This decision from the DNC to withhold the release of its internal autopsy report concerning the 2024 election appears remarkable but entirely predictable. Opposed to unpleasant candor, the DNC often functions closer to a PR firm than a political organization committed to cultivating a volunteer base to secure victories.

A Culture of Conformity

Hesitant to break with the prevailing attitude demanding unity, the committee has stayed within that legacy throughout this past year. Publishing the findings would have indicated whether the leadership actually want to promote public discourse regarding the missteps that enabled the former president to return to the White House. Instead, the DNC is proceeding under the pretense that there is little to understand following the tragic debacle from the last cycle.

The top priority: will this lead to victory? If not, it is an unnecessary diversion from our fundamental goal," a rationale which was presented to justify concealing the analysis.

Major Failures a Report Would Have Examined

Any valuable post-mortem of substance would confront key points of failure. These include:

• Voter Disengagement: The loss among a significant portion of the electorate that backed the party's candidate in 2020 was decisive in the close 2024 election.
• A Choice to Run: The unwavering decision by the incumbent to seek re-election, coupled with a last-minute step-aside, is seen by some as robbing Democratic voters of a genuine choice.
• Losing Touch With the Working-Class Base: During a time of inflation, the campaign reportedly accommodating corporate donors' interests and not managing to address the impact of big business.
• The Gaza Factor: The refusal to adjust a policy position on the situation in Gaza reportedly led to alienating key demographic groups, particularly with young people, Arab-Americans, Muslim voters.
• A Decline in Youth Support: Polling data shows a huge decline in votes for the candidate among the youth electorate.

A Record of Evasion

The decision to withhold aligns with a longstanding habit of sidestepping uncomfortable facts. This mirrors a situation in which nearly all elected Democrat in Washington went along with a sitting president's insistence on seeking another term right up until a disastrous public debate performance forced an exit.

At the same time, overwhelming numbers within the party's base had been consistently telling pollsters that they did not want the incumbent to run again.

Financial Concerns

A thorough analysis would also investigate matters regarding campaign spending, such as what sums flowed to high-priced advisors and ad buyers during a campaign that managed to spend an enormous war chest over a few months.

A Larger Implication

Fundamentally, the suppression of the official autopsy points to an allegiance to party leaders who engineered an unsuccessful presidential campaign. The signal for the party's base – including millions of small donors – is that they cannot be trusted to understand the lessons the insiders claim to have learned from a report compiled from feedback from all states.

An organization unable to critically review its own failings finds it difficult to climb out of the cycle that proved so advantageous to their opponents.