I Read the DNC’s 2024 Autopsy So You Don’t Have To (Spoiler: Democrats Still Can’t Get Out of Their Own Way)
After months of internal turmoil, the Democratic National Committee finally released its long-awaited report on the 2024 election. That election saw then-Vice President Kamala Harris lose both the popular vote and the Electoral College, delivering then-former President Donald Trump one of the greatest political comebacks in modern American history. The 192-page report - commissioned over a year ago by DNC Chair Ken Martin and released last week - had previously been shelved for undisclosed reasons.
You might be wondering why any of this matters, especially to a Republican like me. The art of political warfare requires studying your opponents to gauge their strengths and perceive their weaknesses. What I expected to be a highly self-aware retrospective on their 2024 performance actually fell short. Surprising? Not at all. Democrats have serious problems heading into the next presidential cycle, with cracks already starting to form as they prepare for the midterm elections later this fall.
As it stands, their war chest has been significantly depleted, their grassroots network is fractured, and while there may be plenty of rising stars within the party’s ranks, they do not yet have a clear standard-bearer to coalesce around for 2028. This lack of energy and cohesion hints at a party apparatus on life support, with ramifications that may be far worse for them than those in 2024.
The email accompanying the report signals that Martin, at least, possesses some self-awareness about the state of his party. He calls for stronger organizing in ignored communities, year-round campaigning, re-engaging with working families on issues like affordability, and an affirmative agenda that goes beyond just being anti-Trump.
These are reasonable observations rooted in the realities of the day. If the Democrats actually work to address them, it would show that they mean business. The question, however, is whether they are even capable?
The report lamented declines since Barack Obama’s 2008 peak while acknowledging some obvious structural flaws, like underfunding and reduced training for state parties, major shifts in voter registrations that favored Republicans, a loss of organizing capacity, and a “persistent inability or unwillingness to listen to all voters” - especially in working-class communities. It also noted a heavy over-reliance on advertising while underinvesting in field operations. These, too, are reasonable but convenient excuses.
And while it leaned heavily on these familiar comforts, the report virtually ignored the real problem: Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. Harris - a historically weak and unpopular candidate who was installed through an unprecedented closed-door coronation following Biden’s infamous debate collapse - was not adequately prepared to be the party’s nominee, let alone president. A recent report in Vanity Fair speculating Harris’ potential 2028 bid perhaps captured this sentiment best, with one former Biden aide stating that Biden “fucked” Harris by forcing her into an impossible position two years ago.
Biden’s presidency was a disaster by every measure: his approval ratings languished in the mid-to-low 30s for much of his term, with especially brutal numbers on his administration’s handling of the economy, the border crisis, and crime. Compounding all this was Biden’s visibly declining mental acuity, which was widely observed and yet actively covered up by those in his administration and party, including Harris, until his debate performance made it no longer possible to ignore.
The lack of self-awareness on the left is so telling that Martin himself admitted he couldn’t put the DNC’s stamp of approval on the product. The delay, as well as the disclaimers plastered on every page of the report in red font, reveal a deep institutional discomfort with truly uncomfortable truths.
The Democrats have long been saddled by an insular consultant class, the priorities of coastal elites, and a reluctance to challenge core assumptions about voters. They spent billions in 2024 only to watch Republicans win the popular vote for the first time in 20 years and make historic gains with Hispanic, Black, and young voters.
These problems weren’t always isolated to just one party, however. The Republican National Committee underwent a total transformation in 2024 following years of consultant bloat under Ronna McDaniel, among other issues. It was Michael Whatley and Lara Trump - both handpicked by Trump - who pivoted the party toward aggressive grassroots organizing and coalition building, data-driven targeting, and a relentless focus on working-class issues like the economy, border security, and cultural common sense. The result was one of the strongest Republican performances in decades.
That’s because RNC leadership didn’t just talk about reform - they executed it. That discipline continues to position them as a juggernaut heading into the 2026 midterm elections, with record cash on hand, election integrity operations already underway, and a fierce redistricting offensive that many believe will preserve the House majority.
In comparison, the Democrats appear stuck. Martin’s forward-looking acknowledgements are sensible on paper, but the party’s track record suggests that execution will falter without radical institutional changes. The same consultant network and donor class largely responsible for 2024 remain entrenched, and the instinct to blame external factors over internal failures remains dominant.
Harris’s campaign exemplified these problems by emphasizing heavily on suburban identity appeals while hemorrhaging support among working-class voters, men, and rural communities. Ticket-splitting showed that voters could back individual Democrats more in tune with local realities, but that the national brand was too toxic to support its headliner.
The problem for the Democrats today is an identity crisis, which is why Martin is so smart to acknowledge that anti-Trump messaging alone is no longer enough to reach voters. But without a respected standard-bearer - not even at the party leadership level - or a uniform message, their base will continue to fracture. On issue after issue, the party sends mixed messages and alienates working-class Americans while struggling to maintain enthusiasm among its progressive core. It is so bad that most Democrats don’t even know what they stand for anymore.
But truly, the deeper issue is discipline. The Republicans showed it by reforming their practices and evolving their message. The Democrats, however, risk another cycle of navel-gazing that produces little change. In fact, the tortured handling of this very report proves they still can’t get out of their own way.
With another contentious election on the horizon, the Democrats seem doomed to repeat the same mistakes - welcome news for us Republicans.
Peter Giunta is a millennial voter and Republican strategist based in New York. He has appeared on Fox News and writes about the issues driving Republican voters from the youth perspective.