The Democratic National Committee released its long-delayed autopsy of the 2024 election Thursday, but the incomplete and error-riddled document raises more questions about party Chair Ken Martin’s leadership than it answers.
Compiled in the aftermath of Vice President Kamala Harris’ failed presidential campaign, the document was supposed to be a summary of interviews with major stakeholders and operatives, giving insight on what went wrong.
But last December, Martin said that the report—which he described at the time as a “comprehensive review”—would not be released, claiming that it would be a “distraction from the core mission.”
He also doubled down on his stance in an April interview on “Pod Save America.”
“We’re keeping our focus on the lessons that can actually help us win,” Martin told the hosts.
But on Thursday, Martin said that obfuscation had been a mistake.
“For full transparency, I am releasing the report as we received it, in its entirety, unedited and unabridged. It does not meet my standards, and it won’t meet your standards, but I am doing this because people need to be able to trust the Democratic Party and trust our word,” he wrote in a statement.
But the actual document is a puzzling 192-page compilation made by Martin ally and Democratic strategist Paul Rivera. The report avoids conclusions about party strategy during the election and omits references to key issues, like former President Joe Biden’s initial decision to run for reelection and controversy over his stance on the Israel-Hamas war.
Rivera neglected to interview Harris, Biden, and senior campaign operatives. Also, the report contains many basic factual errors and is annotated with remarks from the DNC distancing itself from the report’s assertions.
The autopsy does note that Democrats were unprepared for the right’s political onslaught, which included smears of Harris, her running mate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, and the wider left-wing movement.
But as a “comprehensive review” of what went wrong, the report comes up woefully short, which makes the decision to bury the document for months even more curious.
Martin was already under enormous criticism in his role as DNC chair. Citing fundraising concerns, some Democratic officials have recently called for his removal—and this botched autopsy release certainly won’t help.
Democrats are surging toward likely electoral success in this year’s midterm elections, but the fundamentals of the party under Martin appear to be on extremely shaky ground.
Published with permission of Daily Kos
