By The Democratic National Committee has initiated a formal review of its performance in the 2024 election cycle, but the process will deliberately avoid examining critical decisions made by the Biden-turned-Harris campaign. According to six individuals briefed on the review’s progress, the inquiry will not address “whether President Joe Biden should have sought re-election, his late departure from the race, or the strategic elevation of Vice President Kamala Harris as the nominee.”
The New York Times has already begun to make fun of the findings, though, writing that the “2024 autopsy is described as avoiding the likeliest cause of death. An audit being conducted by the D.N.C. is not looking at Joe Biden’s decision to run or key decisions by Kamala Harris’s team, according to six people briefed on the report.”
Instead, the so-called “after-action review” will concentrate on the performance of outside groups and super PACs, particularly Future Forward, which spent a staggering $560 million backing Biden and Harris. The review is being led by Democratic strategist Paul Rivera, a veteran of past campaign cycles.
Party officials made clear that campaign operatives will not be second-guessed. “We are not interested in second-guessing campaign tactics or decisions of campaign operatives,” said Jane Kleeb, chairwoman of the Nebraska Democratic Party and an ally of D.N.C. Chairman Ken Martin.
The review will reportedly highlight what insiders describe as misaligned priorities among outside allies. Future Forward is expected to come under scrutiny for emphasizing traditional television ads — a strategy the D.N.C. now considers outdated. A document prepared by the group noted that 50 percent of its ads ran on digital platforms, including $51 million placed on YouTube. Still, critics within the party argue that the super PAC spent too heavily on pro-Harris messaging and not enough attacking former President Donald Trump. A Future Forward aide said only 13 percent of the group’s ads were positive about Harris, with the remainder aimed at weakening Trump.
The report will not examine whether the campaign’s framing of the election as a battle between “democracy and fascism” was effective — nor will it address its decision to ignore a high-profile Trump ad on transgender rights.
More than 200 interviews have been conducted across all 50 states, with the final report expected to be released in the fall. The conclusions may evolve as additional input is gathered.
The Democrats may need to do a little more work than this sort of navel-gazing. The country has grown to despise the party, even as Republican numbers shrink. Fox News recently noted that “just 19% of voters questioned in a new national poll give Democrats in Congress a thumbs up on how they’re handling their duties, with 72% disapproving.
That’s an all-time low since Quinnipiac University first began asking congressional approval questions in their surveys 16 years ago.
‘The approval numbers for Democrats can be characterized as flat out terrible,’ Quinnipiac University polling analyst Tim Malloy said.”
The GOP will be defending slim House and Senate majorities in next year’s midterms and will also be facing traditional headwinds that hamper the party in power. However, in some “red” states, Republicans have started examining ways to solve the biased census of 2020. The Census Bureau claimed that it accidentally undercounted Arkansas, Florida, Texas, Mississippi, Illinois, and Tennessee—four states that lean heavily Republican—while overcounting Massachusetts, New York, Hawaii, and Delaware, states that traditionally lean Democrat.
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