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The action by the DNC to block the release regarding its own autopsy report on the last presidential race appears stunning but not surprising. Averse to unpleasant candor, the Democrats' governing body often functions more like a communications shop than an electoral entity focused on cultivating local power capable of prevailing at the polls.

A Culture of Conformity

Hesitant to challenge the prevailing attitude of conformity, the committee has continued under the Biden-Harris shadow throughout this past year. Publishing an official autopsy might have shown whether party leaders truly desire to encourage open debate regarding the missteps which allowed Donald Trump to return to the White House. Yet, the committee is acting as if there are no lessons to glean from the tragic debacle from the last cycle.

"Here’s our North Star: will this lead to victory? Should the answer be negative, it becomes a sideline issue from what truly matters," a justification reportedly given to justify concealing the analysis.

Key Issues an Autopsy Could Have Addressed

Any valuable post-mortem worth its salt would confront certain uncomfortable matters. Among them are:

• Electoral Disenchantment: Losing among a significant portion of the electorate who supported the Democratic ticket in 2020 proved pivotal in the narrowly decided recent race.
• The Insistence to Run: The stubborn choice of the incumbent to seek re-election, alongside a very late exit, has been criticized as robbing the party's base of a genuine choice.
• Losing Touch With Core Democratic Voters: During a time of inflation, the campaign reportedly bowing to powerful financial backers without successfully attempting to confront the effects of big business.
• A Foreign Policy Factor: The failure to adjust a stance on a major international conflict is cited as driving away many voters, especially with youth voters, Arab American communities, and Muslim Americans.
• Losing Youth Backing: Extensive evidence demonstrates a significant decline of support for the party among young voters.

A Record Avoiding Accountability

Choosing secrecy aligns with a pattern of sidestepping hard truths. This mirrors a dynamic where the vast majority of elected Democrat in Congress supported an incumbent's insistence on running for re-election until a poor televised debate forced an exit.

Concurrently, large majorities within the party's base had been repeatedly informing pollsters that they opposed that candidate to be the nominee.

Campaign Spending Questions

A substantive report would also probe questions about financial allocations, such as what sums were directed to insider consultants as well as advertising contractors during a campaign which expended a colossal sum in a short period.

A Larger Problem

Ultimately, the secrecy surrounding this report points to a submission to party leaders that oversaw a disastrous national race. The implication for the party's base – which includes millions of small donors – appears to be that they do not have a right to know the lessons party chiefs say they discovered from an analysis drawing from feedback from all states.

A political entity unwilling to honestly assess its own failings will struggle to escape the cycle that proved so advantageous to the rival party.