Video: Rep. James Walkinshaw (D-VA11) Expresses Frustration with “Haphazardly Done, Incomplete” DNC “Autopsy” Report, Chair Ken Martin

See below for some thoughts from Rep. James Walkinshaw on the DNC “autopsy” report that was released yesterday, with the explicit NON-endorsement by DNC Chair Ken Martin. But first, I’d just make a few quick points:

1. I definitely think we SHOULD do “after-action reports” following major elections, to learn what we did right, wrong, could have done better, lessons to be learned, etc.
2. It seems glaringly obvious to me that if/when we do such reports, they should be comprehensive, honest – even brutally honest – and not pull any punches, etc. in order to have the maximum usefulness.
3. In this case, the report was sloppy, incomplete, filled with unsupported assertions, poorly written, embarrassing…and simply not ready for primetime (do we now need an “autopsy” of the “autopsy? LOL).
4. IMHO, it’s obvious that Donald Trump’s been able to win presidential elections for several big, systemic reasons, including the media whitewashing/sanewashing him relentlessly since 2015; failure of Democrats (for the past couple decades) to create our own media/messaging channels, even as the right wing has invested billions of dollars in buying up news media (e.g., the WaPo, LA Times, Sinclair, CBS…); widespread racism, misogyny, xenophobia, homophobia, transphobia, etc. among tens of millions of Americans. As for 2024 specifically, President Joe Biden really should have announced after the 2022 midterms that he wouldn’t be running for reelection, and that there would be a full, free-and-fair Democratic presidential primary process to select our nominee for 2024. Also with regard to 2024, obviously inflation had been a big – albeit transitory – problem stemming overwhelmingly from the COVID pandemic (supply chain problems, massive fiscal stimulus, then a strong economic recovery after the world started opening back up again once we had vaccines), and that led to many Americans feeling that the economy sucked…something they blamed, fairly or (I’d argue) unfairly on the Biden administration. In the end, if you look at polling (e.g., this poll by Gallup from October 2024), the top issues for voters were the economy, democracy in the US, terrorism/national security, the Supreme Court, immigration, education, healthcare, gun policy, abortion, taxes, crime…and the Trump campaign pounded away on several of those (particularly immigration, inflation and crime, plus transgender issues – a very “low-salience” issue for American voters, according to Gallup, but used by the Trump campaign to dishonestly, shamlessly argue that Harris wasn’t for “you” but for “them”). As for foreign affairs, including the Middle East/Arab-Israeli conflict, that also scored pretty  low in polling in terms of “salience,” but for those who DID care a lot about that issue, it certainly could have cost the Democrats votes in some key states, like Michigan….
5. In the end, as annoying as this situation is, it’s of very minor importance compared to the urgent need to focus on defending our democracy, fighting back against the authoritarian/fascist threat, and ultimately WINNING ELECTIONS in the midterms and in 2028. So let’s not get too carried away with this hot mess of an “autopsy”…as frustrating as it is. Having said that, we DO need a functional Democratic National Committee, and if the current Chair isn’t up to the job (and for the record, I supported Ben Wikler), we should get a new one; we don’t have the luxury, frankly, of f’ing around right now, given what’s at stake and what the threats are that face us.

Anyway, with that, here’s what Rep. Walkinshaw had to say about the DNC’s “autopsy” report:

• “I’ve had a chance to to skim it. Look, I don’t think we can really draw any meaningful conclusions from this report,  which clearly was haphazardly done, incomplete, left out significant issues. It’s obviously disappointing and  frustrating that the DNC couldn’t figure out how to put together a solid, comprehensive report to take a look at  what happened in the elections. But we’re focused on the future. We’re focused on the midterm elections coming up and Democrats are going to be  presenting to the country a solid, coherent, simple agenda of what we will do on day one if the American people put us in charge here in the Congress.”
• “Yes [it was a mistake not to release the report sooner]. Look, I think if if you’re going to release it, you should have released it right away. The mistake was not getting a solid, comprehensive, fulsome report completed that could actually produce some meaningful guidance for us moving forward. That was the fundamental  mistake. Quite frankly, it’s too late to to fix that mistake, but it should have been released immediately so we wouldn’t have had this months-long back and forth about why it’s not being released.”
• “I’m going to reserve judgment on that [whether he has faith in Ken Martin or not] for the time being. Look, I’m frustrated at the pace of fundraising there. I’m frustrated with this handling  of the report. On the other hand, the DNC has been engaged in states like Virginia and across the country in special elections that we’ve seen. So, they clearly have work to do. The good news is there’s time for them to turn it around before the midterm elections in November.”
• “I think [U.S. support for Israel and the war in Gaza] continues to to be an issue. Foreign policy is an important issue. That’s one of the I think glaring omissions that deserve some consideration in the report. But look, at the end of the day, the focus for the Democratic Party today is addressing the cost of living crisis that the American people are facing and that Donald Trump and this Republican Congress are making worse. We’ve got to be laser focused on that each and every day and make sure the American people know they put us in charge of the Congress. That’s going to be our focus.”