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The action by the Democratic National Committee to block the public viewing of its internal post-election analysis on the last presidential race seems stunning yet to be expected. Averse to frank assessments, the party's leadership apparatus operates more like a publicity machine than an electoral entity committed to cultivating grassroots capacities for winning elections.

An Environment of Conformity

Reluctant to challenge the party establishment's culture demanding unity, the committee has remained within the influence of the previous administration throughout this past year. Publishing the findings would have indicated whether party leaders actually want to promote public discourse regarding the errors that enabled Donald Trump to win re-election. However, the DNC is proceeding under the pretense that there are no lessons to glean following the tragic debacle from the last cycle.

Our guiding principle: will this lead to victory? If the answer is no, it is an unnecessary diversion from the core mission," a justification reportedly given for withholding the report.

Major Failures an Analysis Might Have Addressed

Any valuable post-mortem of substance would confront certain uncomfortable matters. These include:

• Electoral Disenchantment: Losing of a significant portion of the electorate who voted for the Democratic ticket in 2020 proved pivotal in the close recent race.
• A Choice to Seek Re-election: The stubborn insistence of the incumbent to run again, and a last-minute withdrawal, is seen by some as robbing Democratic voters of a genuine choice.
• Abandoning the Working-Class Base: While facing inflation, the campaign allegedly bowing to corporate donors' interests while failing to address the role of corporate greed.
• The Gaza Factor: The failure to reconsider a stance on a major international conflict reportedly led to driving away significant blocs, especially among youth voters, Arab American communities, Muslim voters.
• Losing Young Voter Allegiance: Polling data indicates a huge decline of Democratic support from voters aged 18-29.

A Record of Evasion

The decision to withhold is consistent with a pattern of sidestepping difficult realities. It recalls an episode where virtually every Democratic officeholder in Washington supported a sitting president's decision for running for re-election until a poor campaign event compelled a reversal.

Concurrently, a significant majority of Democratic voters had been repeatedly informing researchers that they opposed that candidate to run again.

Campaign Spending Questions

A thorough report would also examine matters about where money went, including how much money went to high-priced advisors as well as ad buyers over the course of a campaign that burned through an enormous amount during the general election.

The Larger Implication

Fundamentally, the secrecy of the official autopsy is symptomatic of a submission toward party leaders that oversaw a disastrous presidential campaign. The message for ordinary supporters – which includes countless loyal volunteers – is that they cannot have a right to see the lessons the leadership have learned based on hundreds of interviews based on conversations with insiders.

An organization unwilling to honestly assess its own failings is unlikely to climb out of the pattern that proved so beneficial to their opponents.