DNC briefs top Democrats on 2024 election loss audit
The Democratic National Committee has begun briefing top Democrats on key findings from its post-election review of the 2024 White House defeat. The assessment highlights late spending and a failure to address voters' primary concerns as major factors in the loss. Officials emphasize the need for earlier and more consistent investments to rebuild party infrastructure.
This week, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) started sharing parts of its highly anticipated post-mortem on the party's 2024 presidential defeat with top Democrats. The review identifies late spending, intensified by the mid-campaign switch from Joe Biden to Kamala Harris, and insufficient focus on voters' top issues as central reasons for losing the White House to Donald Trump.
DNC officials argued that the party did not invest early or consistently enough to engage and persuade voters, according to two people briefed on the conversations and granted anonymity. The candidate swap exacerbated long-term systemic problems, they said. The failure to respond to key voter concerns contributed to losses among core constituencies, including working-class voters. One briefed individual noted that Democrats “didn’t talk enough about bread-and-butter issues, and instead, we talked about social issues, social anxieties,” potentially critiquing the Harris campaign's emphasis on abortion and democracy over the economy and immigration.
The full report, which will also examine the party's role in media, advocacy, organizing, and technology, along with paid content, messaging, candidate travel, and spending, is not expected until after the November elections in New Jersey and Virginia. Briefings so far have avoided naming specific individuals or entities, and Biden's age has not been raised, though it remains a potential topic.
Key takeaways include the need for long-term investments over late ones. As one person described: “one, we can’t invest late in building out infrastructure in the states, and two, long-term investment is more important than late investment.” They added, “The problem with our side — we saw it in 2016, 2020 and 2024 — the money comes late and we need the money to come earlier. The issue for our side is not the lack of money, it’s how late it comes.”
However, these conclusions face scrutiny. While the Biden campaign maintained a limited ground presence in some battlegrounds, it also spent $25 million on ads in September 2023 and $30 million in March 2024—earlier than predecessors like Barack Obama and Donald Trump. A DNC aide cautioned that the briefings do not represent the full report, with interviews ongoing and additional topics possibly addressed later.
The sessions also prepare for upcoming elections, piloting new voter contact projects and analyzing Republican online strategies, where Democrats lag in off-years.