"At a time when Republicans are polling at historic lows, Democrats need to capitalize and offer a better vision for the country," said one critic. "This isn’t it."
What seems obvious is that Paul Rivera, who wrote this report by himself and provided absolutely no source material, was in way over his head and may have even made shit up.
What boggles my mind, though, is that rather than come out and say the report was poor quality and clearly omitted many important issues and thus has limited to no utility, DNC Chair Ken Martin went to the media and tried to sell it like there were important conclusions drawn and that the DNC was enacting them.
Ken Martin of course hand picked Paul Rivera to do this. I don’t know if he was trying to protect his own ego or what, but he very blatantly lied to the public about this report and has lost all credibility. I think it’s likely he loses his job soon.
At this point, I’m tending toward the interpretation that Martin and the rest of the DNC upper echelon wanted and expected a report that would, among other things, pretend to address the rather obvious failures of bowing to the self-serving desires of big money donors and at least tacitly supporting the Palestinian genocide, but would then do some sort of fallacious end run that led to the comforting conclusion that that wasn’t really a problem, so it would be okay when the DNC, as they fully intend, keep right on doing both of those things.
What boggles my mind, though, is that rather than come out and say the report was poor quality and clearly omitted many important issues and thus has limited to no utility, DNC Chair Ken Martin went to the media and tried to sell it like there were important conclusions drawn and that the DNC was enacting them.
When I commissioned a comprehensive review of the 2024 election, I started a process to answer those questions while interrogating where our party has systemically and historically fallen short. I didn’t want that process led by anybody directly tied to the 2024 cycle – either the campaign or the consultants involved – and I did not want to put my own thumb on the scale for what might be produced. What I did ask for were actionable takeaways for the future. I wanted real, in-depth, specific recommendations to improve our allocation of resources, tech, data, organizing, media strategy, and more. I chose someone who I thought could produce this type of report.
When I received the report late last year, it wasn’t ready for primetime. Not even close. And because no source material was provided, fixing it would have meant starting over, from the beginning – every conversation, every interview, every data set.
I am not proud of this product; it does not meet my standards, and it won’t meet your standards. I don’t endorse what’s in this report, or what’s left out of it. I could not in good faith put the DNC’s stamp of approval on it.
Dude, fuck you for accusing me of lying. You might notice the statement you’re quoting from was released today, whereas I’m talking about everything Ken Martin said before today. Go back and watch the PSA (Pod Save America) interview I mentioned (in another comment), which was recorded a month ago.
You didn’t mention a “PSA interview” (whatever the fuck that is). You only mentioned that he “went to the media.” How the Hell was I supposed to know you were talking about something other than the thread article?
You’re right that I mentioned the Pod Save America interview in a different comment on this thread. But that’s just one interview, this story has been ongoing for over two months, with Ken Martin spouting the same lies over and over on many outlets. Jumping straight to “you’re lying” when you’re the one that lacks any context is awful. Next time try something like “But that’s the reason he gave in the article” to try to invite more information
What seems obvious is that Paul Rivera, who wrote this report by himself and provided absolutely no source material, was in way over his head and may have even made shit up.
What boggles my mind, though, is that rather than come out and say the report was poor quality and clearly omitted many important issues and thus has limited to no utility, DNC Chair Ken Martin went to the media and tried to sell it like there were important conclusions drawn and that the DNC was enacting them.
Ken Martin of course hand picked Paul Rivera to do this. I don’t know if he was trying to protect his own ego or what, but he very blatantly lied to the public about this report and has lost all credibility. I think it’s likely he loses his job soon.
At this point, I’m tending toward the interpretation that Martin and the rest of the DNC upper echelon wanted and expected a report that would, among other things, pretend to address the rather obvious failures of bowing to the self-serving desires of big money donors and at least tacitly supporting the Palestinian genocide, but would then do some sort of fallacious end run that led to the comforting conclusion that that wasn’t really a problem, so it would be okay when the DNC, as they fully intend, keep right on doing both of those things.
And what they got failed to do that.
Why are you lying?
Back in factual reality, here are some of the things Ken Martin actually said about the report:
Dude, fuck you for accusing me of lying. You might notice the statement you’re quoting from was released today, whereas I’m talking about everything Ken Martin said before today. Go back and watch the PSA (Pod Save America) interview I mentioned (in another comment), which was recorded a month ago.
You didn’t mention a “PSA interview” (whatever the fuck that is). You only mentioned that he “went to the media.” How the Hell was I supposed to know you were talking about something other than the thread article?
You’re right that I mentioned the Pod Save America interview in a different comment on this thread. But that’s just one interview, this story has been ongoing for over two months, with Ken Martin spouting the same lies over and over on many outlets. Jumping straight to “you’re lying” when you’re the one that lacks any context is awful. Next time try something like “But that’s the reason he gave in the article” to try to invite more information