Times of India reporter in Washington: After months of secrecy, recriminations, leaks and intraparty paranoia, Democrats on Thursday released a long-awaited autopsy of the disastrous 2024 presidential race that ended with Kamala Harris losing the election to Donald Trump, turning the postmortem into another fiasco. The 192-page commentary, written largely by Democratic strategist Paul Rivera, seeks to explain how Kamala Harris could lose the 2024 election to Trump despite massive fundraising, an outpouring of enthusiasm after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race and widespread Democratic warnings that the MAGA top leader posed an existential threat to American democracy. Instead, the report reveals that political parties remain deeply divided over what exactly went wrong.The report paints a picture of a Democratic Party out of touch with working-class voters, with a weak economic message, cultural overreach, and organizational complacency. It argued that Democrats had lost credibility on immigration, public safety and inflation, while Republicans successfully painted Harris as an incompetent steward of the Biden administration.What may be most striking, however, is not what the autopsy says, but what it awkwardly avoids saying. The report specifically sidesteps ongoing scrutiny of Biden’s disastrous decision to seek re-election despite widespread concerns among voters about his age and stamina — concerns that Democrats publicly dismissed until his disastrous debate performance forced him to withdraw. Nor does it seriously examine the chaotic process that would elevate Harris to the nomination without a competitive primary after Biden steps down in July 2024.The omission angered many Democrats, who believe the party establishment is still shielding senior figures like Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer from accountability.The report also barely touched on another politically explosive issue: the party’s divisions over U.S. support for Israel’s war in Gaza, a conflict that has alienated many young and progressive voters. Critics were quick to point out that a nearly 200-page document on the collapse of the Democratic Party even managed to avoid mentioning “Gaza” or “Palestine” in any meaningful way.The findings themselves often read less like a dramatic revelation than a compilation of painful facts that Democrats spent two years arguing on podcasts, cable TV and in painful group chats. The report concluded that Democrats have failed to connect with Latino voters, men, rural Americans and younger voters. The party remains too reliant on traditional media and too disconnected from the emerging digital ecosystem dominated by MAGA Republicans. Trump’s campaign learned more from Barack Obama’s 2008 organizational revolution than the Democrats did, the report said.The autopsy also criticized Democrats’ spending practices, showing that the Harris campaign burned through huge sums of money with questionable efficiency. Harris raised about $1 billion during a compressed 107-day campaign but was unable to overcome voter dissatisfaction with the economy, immigration and notions of elite separation.But what’s most unique about this release is the DNC’s own disclaimer attached to the document. Democratic National Committee Chairman Ken Martin effectively denied the report when it was released, while acknowledging that the document was incomplete, unpolished and lacked adequate sources. “I’m not proud of this product,” he admitted, while emphasizing that transparency required its release regardless.The drubbing reflects the broader dilemma Democrats face heading into 2028. On the one hand, establishment figures argue that Democrats simply need a clearer message and better organization to counter an increasingly unpopular Trump administration. On the other side are progressives and younger activists who believe the party suffers from something deeper: a risk-averse, consultant-driven, over-managed leadership culture that fears real ideological conflict.Many Democrats privately acknowledged that Harris faced an almost impossible situation after inheriting the nomination late. The result is a campaign that often appears caught between defending Biden’s record and promising generational change — an impossible political yoga pose.For now, Democrats are trying to focus on the 2026 midterm elections, when Trump’s polarizing presidency could once again help unify anti-Republican votes. But the autopsy shows the party still has no definitive answer to a larger question that has dogged the party since 2024: whether Trump’s victory was an aberration or evidence that Democrats have fundamentally lost touch with much of the American electorate.
