I was elected Chair of the Democratic National Committee three months after one of the most painful and consequential election losses for Democrats in modern history.
Yeah, no. You, Ken Martin, commissioned this report. That means you signed off on the methodology and deliverables ahead of time. Even if the consultant in question here had an emergency and couldn't finish it, the fact that the underlying data and interviews weren't provided is still YOUR fault. Instead, this is a half-assed product that YOU commissioned, that is YOUR responsibility, and looks very much like YOU are not taking this moment seriously.
I'd very much like to know more information about how this work was financed. You said in your PSA interview that you did not spend money on the report. Who paid for the travel/interview time for someone to talk to 1200+ people? Did you decide not to pay for this after the fact because the final product was bad, or did you not think this work was worth paying someone to do? If the former, why was this important work assigned to just one person? If the latter, do you not believe consultants deserve to be paid for their work?
You've also been talking in interviews as if this report has been driving the DNCs decision-making around 2026 and 2028. How is that possible given how unsourced and incomplete the report is?
I didn't really care about this before the PSA interview, and now I am sad to say there is no way for Ken Martin to repair my trust, and I will not donate money to the DNC as long as he is in charge. What a farce.
I've been a reliable Democratic voter back to Jimmy Carter. I'm appalled that the donations you receive from voters were wasted on a report I could have written in my spare time. This was a profound failure of you and the other leaders and consultants that have damaged the Democratic party and set the stage for Trump. If the Democratic party isn't willing to break with the wealthy donors and address the problems faced by working class we'll face a generation of far-right rule until the party is replaced by a new party that serves the people the Democrats once did.
Ken Martin said on Pod Save America that they didn't spend any money on this report. Somehow. I guess they didn't think this work was worth paying for?
Did they not pay for the report because it was not completed? I’m not understanding this at all. The report — as is — is nearly 200 pages. Just typing, formatting, and editing that would have a cost, and that doesn’t include time doing interviews, researching things, analysis, etc. There is NO way the DNC, which lauds itself as the party of working people, expected to get a quality report for free, right? I am so confused.
I agree with Leisa Peterson. IMO your first mistake was not arresting everyone involved with January 6th the day after Biden took office. You showed you were weak, and not willing to do what was necessary to protect our country. Every time you caved instead of standing strong (Schumer comes to mind) you weakened our party. You need to start looking at the Progressives in the party because they are the future. The old Democratic Party is almost dead and I say good riddens. I am 77, a life-long Democrat, and the status quo is killing our party. People will not willingly go back to the way things have been, and they want to see young blood in our party. I have been marching for the same things since the 1960's and the status quo has been maintained all those years. So you are to blame as much as the republicans (who have now morphed into the MAGA party of Donold). Stop trying to persuade people who will never change their positions on anything and start including all those who vote democratic in every election. Include the working class and disregard the "elite" as they are selfish and will never vote country over themselves. So many things have not been done that would have helped us not be in this position. Expanding the Supreme Court, term limits for all elected officials including the President on down. I am so very tired of trying to drag our party into this century, you always seem to be a day late and a dollar short. As you can tell, I am very angry and shocked at the obscene underbelly of this country. It is appalling.
I asked a legitimate question. It is too bad you were never taught civility. There is not one Nancy I can think of in the government right now affecting our rights. All you had to do was answer a simple question. Instead you chose to call a college educated woman ignorant to get a rise.
Thank you for your honest insight. It is easy to point fingers at the opposition, first we must remove the log from our own eyes. We are the party for the people, but we need to clean our own house.
The only thing I will add is that the Leaders in Congress don’t appear to share several of these goals. Schumer and Jeffries have intervened time and again all over the United States in the Primaries. They need to get on board or get out.
I might be way off base but my perspective during Kamala's campaign was that she failed to take charge of the campaign. Period. Full stop. I've been a registered Democrat my entire adult life and I am almost 60. I have had the pleasure and privilege of voting for decades and voting for candidates that I believed in.
Look at what that got me.
NAFTA. A total failure to hold anyone accountable for the 2008 financial collapse. Zero guardrails on Tech. Failure to adhere to the Geneva convention. Absolute betrayal and failure in Afghanistan. And so much corruption.
How can you possibly believe that we failed due to lack of negative messaging about Trump in the last election? Or in 2016?
The DNC and the party continue to shock me with their absolute failure to connect with Americans. Why were they shocked that Hillary lost?!?! People loathed her and still do. A decade later, I don't see that the Democratic Party is saying anything meaningful beyond "be afraid of Donald Trump and his allies. Fear them."
I don't need to be told who to fear. I need to see any of you saying anything about what you are going to DO about anything.
I voted for Kamala but I found it distasteful. If you run her again, I'll do the same but guaranteed, she can't win. Kamala is a teacher's pet, very smart, top pupil but she lacks vision and the charisma required to sell. She had nothing interesting to say last time.
We need to rid our party of what's wrong with our politics with term limits for congress and getting rid of secret corporate and private funds.
America was bought and sold on my watch. I know, because I keep voting for the Democrats that have their hands in the cookie jar.
Straighten up, fly right and stop telling us how bad the right is. Instead, be so much better. Change yourselves. Love your country and protect your fellow Americans.
For what its worth, we are afraid. Very afraid. Because we do the suffering. The rich don't.
This is gross. Ken needs to resign immediately. The DNC and the status quo wing of the party have lost the plot completely. The party's base is moving on, and the establishment refuses to budge and follow their lead. This so-called report is weak, odd, incompetent, and was not at all ready for public release.
The Media section is the only thing that has some substance, and it is DEFINITELY something the party should take notice of. Legacy/Mainstream media as we knew it is dead. It's time for the party to bury it, slap a headstone on it, and move on by embracing independent media wholeheartedly with the same fervor and funding they've traditionally given to legacy hacks.
The way to find out why people voted for Trump instead of for Kamala is to… Talk to people who voted for Trump. The problem is, Democrats hate these people and think they are stupid and racist and have nothing of value to say regarding anything. Indeed, it has become a Democrat virtue to completely ignore and dismiss these people.
Indeed, many, if not most Democrats have made hating Trump and hating anyone who voted for him or even anyone who doesn’t speak badly enough about him into part of their self identity. For 11 years, they have said that every single thing Trump has said or done is wrong.
Take a look at the facts and information from "This Will Hold" - they have researched and documented some of the tactics used by Trump and his cronies to get the exact number of votes he needed in each swing state to win. None of this post-mortem analysis will matter when we have someone in power who has vowed to cheat and do all he can to manipulate the vote and disenfranchise voters. Trump has said out loud over and over that he and Musk would make sure he won. Musk said it!! No one has taken this seriously because they wanted to avoid the conspiracy theories and the "rigged election" narrative that the right thrives on. But there were major problems with the votes and voting machine - disappearing votes, votes from counties that didn't exist, etc. And no one questioned them. The Democrats conceded way too fast and should have spent some time questioning and investigating some of these issues before turning our government over to corruption and grift.
This report reads like a middle management report. It ignores the main reasons Democrats keep losing: policy. For example, around 60% of Americans support major modifications to our health care system; over 60% want to see higher taxation of the wealthy, and a majority want corporate taxes raised and loopholes closed; around 70% want term limits for Supreme Court justices and over 70% want to see Congressional term limits; well over half of Americans want the minimum wage to be at least $15 per hour; over 60% want to see unions and collective bargaining rights protected or expanded; around 70% support affordable childcare and universal pre-k; over 60% want tuition free community college education; over 80% want universal background checks for firearm purchases; well over 60% want affordable housing to be a government priority with restrictions on corporate ownership of private homes; over 70% want investment in green energy and modernizing the grid; there's support iver 70% for banning gerrymandering and banning congressional stock trading; and around 70% want a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. This is not an exhaustive list. Reduce this to policy, show Americans that you are serious about it, and the wins will come. A moribund analysis of fundraising is what got us into this problem; is indicative of the real problem, that is to say, the Democratic Party is out of step with the American people.
Respectfully, this is an incredibly half baked report and nowhere near what you campaigned on, Ken. I encourage people to take a look and to demand even more transparency from Ken and the DNC. Not providing the underlying sourcing or being unable to independently verify many of the claims is embarrassing. Democrats deserve better.
Yeah, no. You, Ken Martin, commissioned this report. That means you signed off on the methodology and deliverables ahead of time. Even if the consultant in question here had an emergency and couldn't finish it, the fact that the underlying data and interviews weren't provided is still YOUR fault. Instead, this is a half-assed product that YOU commissioned, that is YOUR responsibility, and looks very much like YOU are not taking this moment seriously.
I'd very much like to know more information about how this work was financed. You said in your PSA interview that you did not spend money on the report. Who paid for the travel/interview time for someone to talk to 1200+ people? Did you decide not to pay for this after the fact because the final product was bad, or did you not think this work was worth paying someone to do? If the former, why was this important work assigned to just one person? If the latter, do you not believe consultants deserve to be paid for their work?
You've also been talking in interviews as if this report has been driving the DNCs decision-making around 2026 and 2028. How is that possible given how unsourced and incomplete the report is?
I didn't really care about this before the PSA interview, and now I am sad to say there is no way for Ken Martin to repair my trust, and I will not donate money to the DNC as long as he is in charge. What a farce.
I think this Autopsy report I wrote for Roots Action will interest you: https://democraticautopsy.org/how-democrats-lost-the-white-house/
AGREED
I've been a reliable Democratic voter back to Jimmy Carter. I'm appalled that the donations you receive from voters were wasted on a report I could have written in my spare time. This was a profound failure of you and the other leaders and consultants that have damaged the Democratic party and set the stage for Trump. If the Democratic party isn't willing to break with the wealthy donors and address the problems faced by working class we'll face a generation of far-right rule until the party is replaced by a new party that serves the people the Democrats once did.
Ken Martin said on Pod Save America that they didn't spend any money on this report. Somehow. I guess they didn't think this work was worth paying for?
Did they not pay for the report because it was not completed? I’m not understanding this at all. The report — as is — is nearly 200 pages. Just typing, formatting, and editing that would have a cost, and that doesn’t include time doing interviews, researching things, analysis, etc. There is NO way the DNC, which lauds itself as the party of working people, expected to get a quality report for free, right? I am so confused.
I think this Autopsy report I wrote for Roots Action will interest you: https://democraticautopsy.org/how-democrats-lost-the-white-house/
I agree with Leisa Peterson. IMO your first mistake was not arresting everyone involved with January 6th the day after Biden took office. You showed you were weak, and not willing to do what was necessary to protect our country. Every time you caved instead of standing strong (Schumer comes to mind) you weakened our party. You need to start looking at the Progressives in the party because they are the future. The old Democratic Party is almost dead and I say good riddens. I am 77, a life-long Democrat, and the status quo is killing our party. People will not willingly go back to the way things have been, and they want to see young blood in our party. I have been marching for the same things since the 1960's and the status quo has been maintained all those years. So you are to blame as much as the republicans (who have now morphed into the MAGA party of Donold). Stop trying to persuade people who will never change their positions on anything and start including all those who vote democratic in every election. Include the working class and disregard the "elite" as they are selfish and will never vote country over themselves. So many things have not been done that would have helped us not be in this position. Expanding the Supreme Court, term limits for all elected officials including the President on down. I am so very tired of trying to drag our party into this century, you always seem to be a day late and a dollar short. As you can tell, I am very angry and shocked at the obscene underbelly of this country. It is appalling.
The first arrest should be Nancy
Nancy who?
Are you really that ignorant?
I asked a legitimate question. It is too bad you were never taught civility. There is not one Nancy I can think of in the government right now affecting our rights. All you had to do was answer a simple question. Instead you chose to call a college educated woman ignorant to get a rise.
Don't feed the trolls (or the bots). You're right, and I agreed with every word you wrote.
CTRL+F > Israel
No results
How laughable.
Thank you for your honest insight. It is easy to point fingers at the opposition, first we must remove the log from our own eyes. We are the party for the people, but we need to clean our own house.
The only thing I will add is that the Leaders in Congress don’t appear to share several of these goals. Schumer and Jeffries have intervened time and again all over the United States in the Primaries. They need to get on board or get out.
No talk about Palestine, what an unserious report.
Hey Ken, here's an immediate problem: not once do you mention the Democrats' position on Israel, Palestine, Gaza, or ICE.
Maybe start there instead of spending several hundred thousand dollars on a consultant report.
I might be way off base but my perspective during Kamala's campaign was that she failed to take charge of the campaign. Period. Full stop. I've been a registered Democrat my entire adult life and I am almost 60. I have had the pleasure and privilege of voting for decades and voting for candidates that I believed in.
Look at what that got me.
NAFTA. A total failure to hold anyone accountable for the 2008 financial collapse. Zero guardrails on Tech. Failure to adhere to the Geneva convention. Absolute betrayal and failure in Afghanistan. And so much corruption.
How can you possibly believe that we failed due to lack of negative messaging about Trump in the last election? Or in 2016?
The DNC and the party continue to shock me with their absolute failure to connect with Americans. Why were they shocked that Hillary lost?!?! People loathed her and still do. A decade later, I don't see that the Democratic Party is saying anything meaningful beyond "be afraid of Donald Trump and his allies. Fear them."
I don't need to be told who to fear. I need to see any of you saying anything about what you are going to DO about anything.
I voted for Kamala but I found it distasteful. If you run her again, I'll do the same but guaranteed, she can't win. Kamala is a teacher's pet, very smart, top pupil but she lacks vision and the charisma required to sell. She had nothing interesting to say last time.
We need to rid our party of what's wrong with our politics with term limits for congress and getting rid of secret corporate and private funds.
America was bought and sold on my watch. I know, because I keep voting for the Democrats that have their hands in the cookie jar.
Straighten up, fly right and stop telling us how bad the right is. Instead, be so much better. Change yourselves. Love your country and protect your fellow Americans.
For what its worth, we are afraid. Very afraid. Because we do the suffering. The rich don't.
You all will continue to lose, the American voters see through your anti American rhetoric.
This is gross. Ken needs to resign immediately. The DNC and the status quo wing of the party have lost the plot completely. The party's base is moving on, and the establishment refuses to budge and follow their lead. This so-called report is weak, odd, incompetent, and was not at all ready for public release.
The Media section is the only thing that has some substance, and it is DEFINITELY something the party should take notice of. Legacy/Mainstream media as we knew it is dead. It's time for the party to bury it, slap a headstone on it, and move on by embracing independent media wholeheartedly with the same fervor and funding they've traditionally given to legacy hacks.
The way to find out why people voted for Trump instead of for Kamala is to… Talk to people who voted for Trump. The problem is, Democrats hate these people and think they are stupid and racist and have nothing of value to say regarding anything. Indeed, it has become a Democrat virtue to completely ignore and dismiss these people.
Indeed, many, if not most Democrats have made hating Trump and hating anyone who voted for him or even anyone who doesn’t speak badly enough about him into part of their self identity. For 11 years, they have said that every single thing Trump has said or done is wrong.
Take a look at the facts and information from "This Will Hold" - they have researched and documented some of the tactics used by Trump and his cronies to get the exact number of votes he needed in each swing state to win. None of this post-mortem analysis will matter when we have someone in power who has vowed to cheat and do all he can to manipulate the vote and disenfranchise voters. Trump has said out loud over and over that he and Musk would make sure he won. Musk said it!! No one has taken this seriously because they wanted to avoid the conspiracy theories and the "rigged election" narrative that the right thrives on. But there were major problems with the votes and voting machine - disappearing votes, votes from counties that didn't exist, etc. And no one questioned them. The Democrats conceded way too fast and should have spent some time questioning and investigating some of these issues before turning our government over to corruption and grift.
This report reads like a middle management report. It ignores the main reasons Democrats keep losing: policy. For example, around 60% of Americans support major modifications to our health care system; over 60% want to see higher taxation of the wealthy, and a majority want corporate taxes raised and loopholes closed; around 70% want term limits for Supreme Court justices and over 70% want to see Congressional term limits; well over half of Americans want the minimum wage to be at least $15 per hour; over 60% want to see unions and collective bargaining rights protected or expanded; around 70% support affordable childcare and universal pre-k; over 60% want tuition free community college education; over 80% want universal background checks for firearm purchases; well over 60% want affordable housing to be a government priority with restrictions on corporate ownership of private homes; over 70% want investment in green energy and modernizing the grid; there's support iver 70% for banning gerrymandering and banning congressional stock trading; and around 70% want a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. This is not an exhaustive list. Reduce this to policy, show Americans that you are serious about it, and the wins will come. A moribund analysis of fundraising is what got us into this problem; is indicative of the real problem, that is to say, the Democratic Party is out of step with the American people.
Ken Martin very bad at his job.
Respectfully, this is an incredibly half baked report and nowhere near what you campaigned on, Ken. I encourage people to take a look and to demand even more transparency from Ken and the DNC. Not providing the underlying sourcing or being unable to independently verify many of the claims is embarrassing. Democrats deserve better.