Fair and Balanced
The Democratic Party did an “autopsy” of our failure to win the Presidency in 2024. There’s a lot of “what ifs”. What if the Biden campaign staff that Harris took over misjudged the political environment? What if they allowed Harris and Walz to continue their attacks on Trump, instead of switching to the “Happy Warrior” mode? And, was the campaign money spent on the campaign, or on the campaign advisors?
Eventually the report will be released. The media is desperate to “balance” coverage. So much bad stuff reported about Trump; from Iran to ICE to Epstein to profligate spending on ballrooms, trophy monuments and reflecting pools. As Hillary discovered in 2016, even the New York Times had to “find dirt” on her, just to look “fair and balanced” (oops, that’s the old Fox News slogan). Like a dog with a bone, they won’t let it go. And it might make for interesting reading.
The Summer of 2024
But here’s the issue. We will never be in the reality of the summer of 2024 again. Think of the remarkable series of events that happened from June through August. Biden locked up in the debate with Trump. Trump literally dodged a bullet in Butler, Pennsylvania. He then appeared, “wounded and bandaged”, at the Republican Convention, and kissed the helmet of the fireman killed in the attempt. (And look, whether you think the Butler assassination attempt was real or faked, it was definitely amazing political theater. And a man really did get killed protecting his family. The Trump campaign managed to spell his name wrong).
Then the Democratic Party pushed Biden out of the race. I love Nancy Pelosi; she’s as tough as they come. The moment when she ignored Biden’s declaration to stay in, and said he was still thinking about it, was “classic Pelosi”. Her acolytes, one at a time, called for Biden to step out: Swalwell to Raskin to Schiff. Without actually saying it, she shoved Biden to the edge. And, when Biden turned to his old friend Barack Obama for help, there were crickets. It was only a few days later that he turned the race over to Vice President Harris. Harris inherited his entire campaign fund and team. It was the “Harris Campaign”, run by Biden campaigners.
It’s like the autopsy of that 5000 year old hunter found in the glacier in the Swiss Alps. Sure, it’s fascinating, but it’s a “one off”: a series of circumstances that will never happen again.
Cause of Death
What are we likely to hear in the “autopsy”?
1. Messaging – Harris and Walz were pulled off of Trump (remember, “he’s just weird”) and put on more positive messages. The “Happy Warrior” theme became more important than the existential threat that Trump’s potential second Presidency represented (now borne out).
2. Turn out – 3.2 million voters that cast a ballot in 2020 did not cast one in 2024. Harris was down 6.2 million from Biden’s total in 2020. Clearly a large portion of the “no shows” were Democrats. If the 3.2 million voted for Harris, she wins.
3. Money – How much of the campaign spending went into the pockets of campaign strategists, charging 20% or more of massive advertising buys? Would that fee for service cost be better spent in get out the vote activities?
4. Young People – Did the Democratic campaign take young people for granted? One obvious gaff: Harris refused to “go to the mountain” of Joe Rogan, and lost the opportunity to gain influence with his multiple millions of loyal followers.
5. A subject I’m sure the “autopsy” will never touch: what were the ramifications of running the first woman as the Presidential nominee, not to mention a person of West Asian and Jamaican descent? Did that create the impact on voter turnout (see item 2)?
Different World
2028, the next Presidential election, will be a different world. And, 2026 is RIGHT NOW. Democratic Chairman Ken Martin wants to keep Democrats’ “eyes on the prize” of winning back the House and the Senate. He doesn’t want to feed the media with a story that will disrupt the continual flow of Trump failures. But the longer he stalls releasing the autopsy, the more clamor the media will create.
One of the “Meet the Press” gaggle made the right suggestion. Push the autopsy out the door, Friday, May 22nd, at 5:15 pm. Sure it will make the news. But who will be watching on Memorial Day Weekend? Then it’s out, and done, and the media world can focus on the Ballroom, or the Reflecting Pool, or the Strait of Hormuz, or whatever crazed thing the Trump White House does next.
An autopsy means something is dead. But the challenges of saving the Union are still very much alive. So get the report out of the way, and let’s go to work.
