Democratic National Committee Chairman Ken Martin agreed to release the group’s 2024 campaign autopsy after a concerted pressure campaign from members of the party.
Martin previously decided against releasing the results of the report, which sought to identify why the Democratic Party suffered such blistering losses in the 2024 elections. After heavy backlash, he announced Thursday that he was reversing course.
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“For full transparency, I am releasing the report as we received it, in its entirety, unedited and unabridged,” Martin said. “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.”
The many annotations in the document mention that source material was not provided, and where some data points came from is unclear. The conclusion section is also missing.
The autopsy reflected many of the public criticisms of the Democratic Party around the 2024 elections, though it focuses mostly on structural and messaging problems.
The autopsy condemned Democrats’ neglect of their local infrastructure, and most of all, their turn toward identity politics over kitchen table issues.
The 2024 results showed Democrats should “focus less on abstract issues and identity politics, and connect with voters on the issues they say matter most, including the economy, disaster relief, and addressing housing affordability,” according to the report.
The autopsy largely refrained from criticizing former Vice President Kamala Harris and even went so far as to suggest that the last-minute switch to her as the party’s presidential nominee might have saved some Democrats in other races.
“Having Kamala Harris on the ballot actually helped down-ballot Democrats maintain part of their base support,” the report reads. “Had Biden remained on the ballot, down-ballot Democrats might have faced even steeper challenges.”
Some figures singled out for praise were Gov. Josh Stein (D-NC) and Sens. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) and Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), who were held up as examples of the messaging and campaigning Democrats should pursue.
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Just as notable as what was included was what was not included, such as judgments on former President Joe Biden’s decision to run for reelection in the first place, the role of the polarizing war in Gaza, and Harris’s succession of Biden.
Martin had initially pushed back against calls to release the autopsy over his stated fears that its release would sow further division within the Democratic Party ahead of its next elections and engage in finger-pointing.
