United States | News & PoliticsIn the statement, Martin called the completed report a “comprehensive review of what happened in 2024” and said the party is “already putting our learnings into motion.” The decision that releasing the report would work against the party, Martin suggested, emerged from “conversations with stakeholders from across the Democratic ecosystem.”
But if the report is “comprehensive” in its look at 2024, keeping it secret raises more questions about who specifically inside that “Democratic ecosystem” will benefit from its remaining under wraps.
[...]
There are grounds for thinking the DNC report digs into these problems. According to a DNC official, the analysis found, among other things, that the party didn’t invest sufficiently in innovative digital tools; that its digital ads didn’t reach young voters who no longer engage with broadcast and cable TV; and that Trump—with the help of an ecosystem of right-wing podcasters and influencers—outworked the Democrats in the information wars. Democrats must play catchup in this department, the report found.
It’s good to hear the report concludes this. But it would be nice to know what specifically the party found on this front and precisely how it’s resolving to do better. Any such analysis of advertising and communications failures would seemingly have to look at Future Forward’s role; in fact, over the summer word leaked that Future Forward would come under heavy criticism in the analysis. If so, that will now remain undisclosed.
[...]
Or take the big question about Joe Biden’s age and fitness for a reelection campaign. It’s unclear what the DNC analysis concludes about key decisions made by the Biden campaign’s high command—people like reelection chair Jen O’Malley Dillon and senior adviser Anita Dunn, who is now an adviser to Future Forward—including the decision to stay in the race too long. That hamstrung Kamala Harris’s ability to get her campaign up and running in time. The lack of a public report may mean accountability falls by the wayside.
Asked directly whether the DNC had decided not to release the report out of concern for how it might impact the reputations of key party players—or whether the DNC faced pressure from key actors to keep its conclusions secret—the DNC official denied this and said the only consideration was what benefits the party. And the official declined to comment on whether Future Forward’s performance and the fate of all the money channeled into it was scrutinized in the report.
NYT reporting:
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/18/us/politics/dnc-2024-autopsy-democrats-ken-martin.html
Still, even if it is good politics to stuff the report in a filing cabinet, Democrats may well be avoiding self-examination and a chance for introspection.
The party’s brand still appears deeply damaged in the eyes of many voters. A national poll from Quinnipiac University this week found that only 18 percent of voters approved of how Democrats in Congress were doing their jobs, a record low.
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Some Democratic donors have demanded a more thorough accounting of how exactly the party and Ms. Harris spent $1.5 billion in 15 weeks en route to losing every battleground state in 2024. Since the election, it has come out that a former top aide to Mr. Biden, Mike Donilon, received $4 million from the campaign — even though he did not work meaningfully with the Harris campaign after Mr. Biden left the ticket.
“I read about that,” Ms. Harris said of Mr. Donilon’s compensation in an interview last month with The New York Times. “That was before I got there.”
the analysis found, among other things, that the party didn’t invest sufficiently in innovative digital tools; that its digital ads didn’t reach young voters who no longer engage with broadcast and cable TV; and that Trump—with the help of an ecosystem of right-wing podcasters and influencers—outworked the Democrats in the information wars. Democrats must play catchup in this department, the report found.
maybe the Dems don't want anyone to know they paid money for this dreck
The sooner the Dems are destroyed the sooner we can build real working class power.
We fucked up by listening to our donors instead of pretending to care about the issues and policies our voter base support. Issues that supermajorities voters of both parties support. We thought it was a good idea to wholeheartedly embrace the endorsements of corporate CEOs, billionaires, as well as Dick Cheney, the least popular politician in history. Haha.
Asked directly whether the DNC had decided not to release the report out of concern for how it might impact the reputations of key party players—or whether the DNC faced pressure from key actors to keep its conclusions secret—the DNC official denied this and said the only consideration was what benefits the party. And the official declined to comment on whether Future Forward’s performance and the fate of all the money channeled into it was scrutinized in the report.
Burn the DNC down to the waterline, it isn't savable and it isn't worth trying to save it.
The democrats and their voters should be free to vote how they want. Just like how everyone else should be free to participate in our elections. Free of a spoiler effect.
The problem stems from the democrat and republican parties gatekeeping the electoral system from 3rd parties. Elections should be a competition to represent the people the best. There should be no safe states.
There should be no monopoly on the future of our nation. Republican, or Democrat.
Surely the freedom to vote how people want is not to high a bar for the democrats to clear right? Self proclaimed democracy advocates surely want the people to be represented fully... right?
I would never force a liberal to vote for my preference in a election, why is it okay for them to do that to me?
And it is a conscious decision to force me to vote a certain way. Every election democrats mercilessly rage at 3rd party voters. The Democratic party and their voters understand that First-past-the-post voting is flawed. Yet in blue states, fully in control of the Democratic party, FPTP voting shackles the people.
Democrats understand FPTP voting does a bad job of representing the nation. They ignore this festering gaping mortal wound... all for safe states and easy elections against a complete clown show. One that has defeated them in every way possible.
The monopoly is over democrats. You never deserved it, and you most certainly do not deserve it now in our darkest hours. Get out of the way, we have to move forward as a nation.
The Democratic party is not more important then the United States of America.
::: spoiler Electoral Reform Videos
First Past The Post voting (What most states use now)
Videos on alternative electoral systems
Doing this right before the midterms with no other viable options seems shortsighted.
You do realize you can't always use that as your excuse for doing nothing right?
No but when the republicans are actively shooting themselves in the foot and the progressives haven't stepped up the democrats are pretty good harm reduction.
So you think the republicans are doing a good job?
1,000% it was because of their Israel support and don't want that info out there.
I doubt it really has accurate answers if the example they released is not enough digital advertising.
The real answer is pretty simple. Not having a primary was a bad choice, Biden clearly wasn't capable of being in public for prolonged periods.
We desperately need more than two choices for that office if one demented pedophile can do all this in so little time
There is a new party that mostly aligns with Democrats called The Working Families Party. They organized to oppose data centers, but maybe they could become more.
https://www.wired.com/story/opposed-to-data-centers-the-working-families-party-wants-you-to-run-for-office/
WFP only works in a state like New York that allows (Fusion Voting). I used to livei n New York, and I voted WFP, but I'm not sure if fusion voting corrects the problem of First Past the Post.
That said the only way out for America at this point is Constitutional Convention or barbarism.
Elections and democracy do not mean much when precious few people have ~~no~~ any idea how the ballots are handled.
Even when all the votes are accurately recorded in every precinct in the nation; new political parties are stillborn and votes cannot reverse corruption and mismanagement .
Edited for grammar
