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This decision from the DNC to suppress the publication of its internal autopsy report on the 2024 election is remarkable yet to be expected. Resistant to frank assessments, the Democrats' governing body behaves closer to a PR firm rather than a political organization committed to cultivating grassroots capacities for winning elections.

A Climate That Avoids Dissent

Reluctant to break with the prevailing attitude demanding unity, the DNC has continued within the Biden-Harris shadow throughout this past year. Publishing the findings would have indicated that the leadership actually want to promote public discourse about the strategic failures that enabled the former president to win re-election. However, the DNC is proceeding as if there are no lessons to glean following the tragic debacle from the last cycle.

Our guiding principle: will this lead to victory? If not, it’s a distraction from our fundamental goal," a justification that has been offered for withholding the report.

Key Issues an Analysis Could Have Addressed

An autopsy report worth its salt would not dodge certain uncomfortable matters. Among them are:

• Voter Disengagement: The loss of millions of voters who voted for the party's candidate during the previous election became a critical factor in the narrowly decided 2024 election.
• The Decision to Seek Re-election: The unwavering decision by a party leader to run again, coupled with a very late exit, is viewed as robbing the party's base the chance for a genuine choice.
• Abandoning the Working-Class Base: While facing economic anxiety, the electoral effort is criticized for accommodating corporate donors' interests and not managing to address the impact of corporate greed.
• The Foreign Policy Factor: The refusal to reconsider a policy position concerning a ongoing war reportedly led to losing key demographic groups, notably with youth voters, Arab American communities, and Muslim Americans.
• Losing Youth Support: Polling data shows a huge decrease of Democratic support among the youth electorate.

A Pattern Shunning Scrutiny

This refusal aligns with a longstanding habit to avoid difficult realities. This mirrors a situation in which virtually every elected Democrat in Congress went along with an incumbent's decision for running for re-election until a poor public debate performance compelled a reversal.

At the same time, overwhelming numbers of Democratic voters had been consistently telling surveyors of their opposition to that candidate to run again.

Financial Issues

A substantive report would also investigate matters about where money went, including how much money were directed to insider consultants as well as media firms during an electoral effort which expended a colossal amount over a few months.

A Broader Problem

Ultimately, the suppression of the official autopsy points to a deference to party leaders that oversaw an unsuccessful electoral effort. The message to the party's base – including countless small donors – appears to be that they do not be trusted to see the lessons the insiders have learned from an analysis drawing from extensive interviews.

An organization incapable to publicly examine where it went wrong will struggle to break free from the cycle that ended up being so helpful to the winning candidate.