Unofficial DNC Autopsy of the 2024 Presidential Election

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) has promised to release its autopsy, explaining why the results of the 2024 presidential election fell below expectations. However, as of the time of writing, no autopsy has been released publicly — meaning there is a gap that needs to be filled to account for the party’s recent failings. Presented here is a substitute meant to account for this sudden vacuum in inquiry and provide perspective as to what can be done to improve the chances of victory for the progressive movement and the wider Democratic Party at large.

Various causes can explain the failure of the Harris campaign during the 2024 presidential election — the reluctance of President Biden to step down, the sudden rush to make Vice President Kamala Harris the Democratic presidential nominee mere days before the 2024 DNC Convention, and even the limited amount of time given to the Harris campaign in the lead-up to Election Day. One important factor that should additionally be taken into consideration is messaging and its distribution. Specifically, we should compare the usage of digital media from both campaigns, and how the Trump campaign utilized it to their advantage while the Harris campaign floundered.

Although the Harris team came out of the DNC convention with immediate strong backing from the party, that backing did not help when it came to messaging. One critical error made was the reliance on hosting interviews in traditional media such as CNN or CBS instead of going to content creators. Even with the limited amount of investment in digital media, it was towards a few podcasts, such as Call Her Daddy, where their audiences failed to reach out to key demographics, such as young men. Not helping was her persistent insistence on continuing Biden’s policies with little to no alterations in interviews, despite his growing unpopularity with the American people at the time. Alongside, her reluctance to discuss certain issues — such as the war in Gaza — cost her support from young people and those further left of the Democratic Party. 

Now compare the strategy of the Harris campaign to that of the Trump campaign, where they were more willing to experiment. Despite not utilizing traditional media as much as the Harris campaign, Trump’s team instead utilized the digital ecosystem to appeal to a younger audience. Specifically utilizing “dude-bro” podcasts — such as Joe Rogan — in an effort to reach out towards young male voters, along with utilizing the online conservative media landscape to gather as much voter mobilization as possible from the MAGA movement that has already been made active by years of digital Alt-Right stations continually “flooding the zone” with content across various social media platforms. This digital propaganda machine is composed of various conservative outlets led by prominent commentators, such as The Daily Wire with Ben Shapiro, Turning Point USA with Charlie Kirk, Prager U with Dennis Prager, and many others, with the effect of establishing a media circuit that allows for MAGA ideology to seep towards the mainstream while Democrats falter. It is this utilization of booking podcasts and the established conservative media circuit, complemented by Trump’s charisma, that allowed him to secure the election from Harris.

With that out of the way, only one thing remains. What can be done to amplify the messaging of the Progressive movement — and by extension, the Democratic Party — to avoid a repeat? The best solution to ensure guaranteed success is not only to back existing progressive content creators, but also use them as a catalyst, the foundation for a left-wing digital media ecosystem that can be used to counteract right-wing messaging. Now, while this proposal may currently seem ambitious, it is both feasible and necessary as a long-term strategy. 

Here is how it can be done. First, greater financial and publicity opportunities must be given to content creators to allow legitimacy for their operations. With that, greater autonomy should be given to digital organizers to allow for greater innovation. Content creators can also serve as the next generation of political commentators and should be given ambassadorship roles towards traditional media to help bridge the gap between the two mediums, along with serving valuable roles in outreach positions to gather essential recruitment for underrepresented groups who are looking for voices to represent them in party circles. This can extend to an emphasis on producing digital content aimed towards these communities. 

Also, to better understand the digital strategy provided by opposing forces, an intelligence wing should be established to provide analysis and understanding of Alt-Right tactics and media, and how to counter them. Investment should also be placed in creating a universal hub meant to connect content creators with DNC officials and progressive organizations to foster communication and shared messaging. This even includes regular collaboration opportunities between creatives and elected officials to boost messaging. There should also be a content creation fund to alleviate any potential financial stress from digital organizers and encourage investment to foster growth. Further preparations should be made for long-term planning on how to preserve democratic institutions. One factor that should not be neglected is the growing merger of entertainment and politics. Instead of being seen as mutually exclusive, these two fields should be treated as two sides of the same coin, and there should be an increased incentive to recruit creatives and encourage them to either commit to content creation or provide their skill set to assist in production. Resentment in the entertainment industry brought by the Trump Administration is growing, and it should be used as a powerful rallying cry to build interfield relations. 

In the end, all these initiatives should be utilized to construct a powerful media network meant to counter Alt-Right messaging. The time to establish is now, with the growing resentment of the various grievances egregiously committed by the second Trump Administration, recruitment and commitment to find the necessary resources to build this ambitious project are abundant. The only thing setting back this operation is not a lack of capacity, but rather a lack of willingness to do so. Only through persistent commitment can Democrats bounce back and save our democracy from further ruin.