Democrats belatedly publish 2024 presidential election autopsy report | Democrats

Democrats belatedly released an accounting of their disastrous defeat in the 2024 election, after an initial decision to withhold the document sparked an angry backlash.

Ken Martin, chairman of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), released the report – which does not mention Gaza or Joe Biden’s age – along with an apology to party members angered by his initial decision to keep secret the analysis of Kamala Harris’ defeat by Donald Trump and her defeat in both houses of Congress.

Martin initially refused to release the report, written by veteran Democratic strategist Paul Rivera. He spoke of the need to focus on this year’s midterm elections and avoid reopening old wounds.

The decision backfired, leading to a crisis of confidence in Martin’s leadership among top Democrats and accusations that he was keeping the results secret.

The report focuses on key demographics that Harris lost — including Latinos, men and rural voters in many states — and compares her performance to other Democrats in key state races, like North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein.

“Harris discounted rural America, assuming urban/suburban margins would compensate,” the report said. “The math doesn’t work.” The autopsy concludes that Stein’s success in the state Harris lost provided a clear lesson for Democrats: focus less on “abstract issues and identity politics.”

It also takes an in-depth look at campaign spending and advertising, and highlights the need to engage new voters in campaign messaging rather than simply broadcasting messages.

Notably, the autopsy does not delve into Joe Biden’s decision to run for office at age 81, nor his decision to effectively turn his campaign over to Harris after she dropped out. The report makes no mention of the role that U.S. support for Israel’s war on Gaza played in the broader Democratic defeat, despite numerous polls on the impact of those issues, nor does it address criticism that racism and sexism were a factor in Harris’ loss.

Martin acknowledged the lack of comprehensive findings, saying he was “not proud” of the report and warned it would not “meet your standards”. But he added that his release was driven by the public’s need to “trust the Democratic Party.”

“When I received the report late last year, it was not ready for prime time. Not even close,” the embattled party chairman said in a statement released after the report’s release. “And since no source material was provided, correcting it would have meant starting from the beginning – every conversation, every interview, every set of data.

He pointed to Democrats’ successive electoral victories over the year, in which the party prevailed or improved its margins in nearly every major election across the country, and argued that “dwelling on 2024 or looking back this late in the game” was a pointless exercise that could blunt their momentum.

“In December, I announced that we were going to shelve this report, and I meant what I said at the time,” he said, adding, “I didn’t mean to create a distraction. Ironically, in doing so, I ended up creating an even bigger distraction. And for that, I sincerely apologize.”

Doubts about the quality and content of the 192-page document are expressed graphically at the beginning and top of each page in the form of a red-marked disclaimer, reading: “This document reflects the opinions of the author, and not those of the DNC. The DNC has not received the sources, interviews, or underlying data for many of the assertions contained herein and therefore cannot independently verify the assertions presented.”

The following sections are punctuated with multiple qualifiers questioning sourcing, data accuracy, or a perceived lack of evidence.

One qualifier undermines the author’s account of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters determined to overturn the result of the 2020 presidential election, which he says led to the deaths of five people. “This statement contradicts public information,” reads an interposed remark. In fact, five people died in the 36 hours following the attack. Four other police officers who responded to the insurrection committed suicide over the next seven months.

In a statement, the pro-Palestinian IMEU political project called on the DNC to “disclose the information the autopsy author gave us clearly and unambiguously, that DNC ​​officials’ review of their own data found that Biden’s support for Israel was a net negative for Democrats in 2024.”

Devastated and excluded from power in Washington, Democrats remain locked in a contentious debate over the future and direction of their party. These tensions have flared in primaries across the country, where rank-and-file Democrats from Maine to California are demanding political and generational change in their leadership.