Can the DNC be everything to everyone?

The DNC is not in a crisis. 

Or at least… the DNC is not in a financial crisis. 

In 2024, the Democratic National Committee, under the leadership of chairman Jaime Harrison, raised more money than it ever has in its entire 176-year existence. Here’s a chart:

Yet, with committee members set to elect a new DNC chair on February 1st, everyone walking on the left side of the street in Washington has an opinion on what needs to change at the DNC, and those gripes are adding up. 

Some want the new chair to stay the course, take more of a caretaker approach, and provide more support to state parties. Others want the national party to beef up on-the-ground organizing programs, and some want the committee to dream bigger, and outline a populist policy platform that can take on our new MAGA overlords.

As the main leadership candidates duke it out in the mini-campaign’s final stretch, I wanted to take a step back and consider the roles the national party committee has historically played. What does the DNC actually do? What should they be responsible for? Does the DNC matter as much as people think it does?

Fundraising

First and foremost, the DNC is a year-round, permanent fundraising apparatus for the party. “The DNC's primary role is to raise money and distribute resources where they're needed most.” Mike Nellis, founder of the Democratic digital firm Authentic, told me. 

Without getting too in the weeds, party committees can accept political contributions year-round and spend that money in several ways supporting candidates and state parties nationwide. Looking at the chart above, the DNC, in recent years, has done a stellar job of filling this role, raising enormous amounts of money from large and small donors alike in midterm and presidential years. 

State party support

How the DNC spends that money matters too, and one major line item includes state party support: monthly payments to the Democratic parties in 57 states and territories to support their general operating expenses. That ensures staff can be hired on the ground at party headquarters from Atlanta to Seattle and everywhere in between. In 2021, with Harrison at the helm, the DNC increased those monthly payments to $12,500 for each party, each month, plus even more if your state is considered a “Red” state. That was an increase from the $10,000 per month given to state parties during Tom Perez’s stint as chair in 2017, which was also an increase from his predecessor’s state party funding level. 

So, if the DNC is already doing a solid job of raising funds and moving more of those funds than ever to state parties, what other functions are people calling for the DNC to take on?

“The thing people don’t understand about the DNC is that its technical function is to be the Democratic presidential campaign in waiting, which might sound exciting, but is actually unglamorous and nitty gritty,” says Patrick Stevenson, a former Chief Mobilization Officer for the DNC. “Its investments in tech, data, and staffing pipelines matter a lot more than anything else people think the organization does.”

Data & technology

Those tech and data investments have always been a key behind-the-scenes role that the DNC filled. Josh Hendler, a technologist who has served as both Director of Technology at the DNC and the party’s Director of Data and Analytics, recently outlined his vision for the future of the DNC’s tech role in an op-ed in The Hill. “Technology is one area where Democrats need to right the ship and think outside the box for a new era of campaigns,” Hendler wrote. “Although there has been progress since 2016, there are serious concerns about the fragility and sustainability of some of the DNC’s top vendors.” 

As Hendler writes in The Hill, the DNC can also lead the way in helping campaigns reimagine how they use technology in on-the-ground organizing programs. This could mean jettisoning some old, stale technologies in favor of more user-friendly, volunteer-driven approaches. 

Communications and messaging

The one aspect of the DNC chair race and the committee’s role that most people focus on is having some type of flashy, national anti-Trump spokesperson who can unite the party in their approach and hurl zingers at our new overlords on Twitter(X) or go on Meet The Press. One Democratic U.S. Senator even called for the DNC chair to serve as an “offensive coordinator” for the party.

What most people fail to mention, however, is that the DNC hasn’t had someone like that at the helm in at least 15 years. That is indeed a problem. 

Except for the very talented Donna Brazile, who served as acting chair for a few short stints, the DNC has not had a compelling national communicator as chair since Howard Dean held the job during the second half of George W. Bush’s presidency. Jaime Harrison, Tom Perez, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, and Tim Kaine each underperformed in this aspect of their roles. 

Instead of relying on one individual to get its message out, the DNC possesses a relatively large megaphone on social media and a strong brand among legacy journalists that allows it to distribute communications far and wide. 

That said, creating digital content for the DNC is not without its challenges. Just this week, the party’s social team was dragged online for posting a snarky piece of anti-Trump content, in which they screenprinted a sweatshirt calling Trump a “snowflake” for moving his inauguration indoors. Some criticized the post as cringe-millennial and not meeting the moment. 

That faux pas illustrates the impossible needle that the DNC’s communications and digital team has always had to thread. Their content has to reflect the “big tent” of both the party’s centrist and progressive wings, not piss off any of the Democratic bigwigs in Congress or committee leadership, and not turn off any top donors. As a result, you sometimes get pretty basic, fluffy oppositional content like the “snowflake” sweater, or kind of lame graphics wishing Barack Obama a happy birthday.

“The DNC is an easy punching bag for everyone's problems with the Democratic Party, and I'm tired of it,” Nellis told me. “While there are reforms to be made, there are also a lot of incredible people doing amazing, thankless work over there. We need to have their backs because they're on the frontlines now more than ever.”

A popular punching bag

Nellis is right: since the election, many frustrated Democrats and progressives have needed a good punching bag, and since the DNC is still standing (unlike the Harris campaign), it can serve that purpose. 

If you’re one of those people pissed off about Trump and rightfully upset that Biden and his three 70 year old advisors basically handed over the keys to White House, I’d encourage you to look beyond the DNC for solutions - and people to blame. Beyond state party support, technology, and the presidential primary calendar and process (that’s a whole other beast), the Democratic National Committee has rarely had the power to change much of anything about the Democratic Party.

The party’s future will instead be decided by new coalitions of outside groups, activists, charismatic voices, and organizations - some of which have yet to be founded. I expect the progressive media and online creator ecosystem will continue to grow and push campaigns to change the way they reach voters. Most importantly, I hope a new generation of elected officials will be willing to throw precedents aside, speak authentically, and displace the stale elites currently running the party. When you see people or groups that fall into those categories, I hope you will support them.

More reads on the DNC leadership elections

• The American Prospect: Faiz Shakir would like the DNC to do something

• ABC News: Democrats look to define dynamics of race for party chair

• Washington Post: After November losses, Democrats vie to lead DNC in restless race

More things you should read

• A group of journalists at Bloomberg just published an in-depth look at how right-wing YouTubers mobilized their audiences and helped elect Trump. Among other things, they break down what types of formats, guests, and content worked well for 9 key major YouTubers on the Right. It’s an incredible read. 

• People are freaking out that Meta is forcing Americans to automatically “Like” Trump and Vance’s new official White House Facebook pages. Everyone needs to chill. This happens during every presidential transition, as the official White House accounts are turned over and rebranded to the new administration.

• Under the radar: President Trump selected Brent Bozell, the head of the Media Research Center, a far-right dark money group, to lead the U.S. Agency for Global Media.

• Michigan’s Democratic Secretary of State accidentally announced she was running for Governor on X, and then immediately deleted the tweet. A day later, she officially announced she was in the race. We should all pour one out for the trigger-happy staffer involved. 

• According to Makena Kelly at WIRED, the Chinese app Xiaohonghshu, or “RedNote,” recruited U.S. influencers in a marketing campaign to encourage Americans to join its platform.

• Is Mr. Beast really going to buy TikTok? P.S. My most controversial take is that Beast Games on Amazon Prime Video is actually a good show. 

• Mike Pence’s political organization, Advancing American Freedom, is launching a six-figure advertising campaign to sink RFK Jr’s nomination to be HHS Secretary, which is a lot more than most Democratic groups are doing.

That’s it for this week. Last week’s issue had an open rate of 76.54% 💪

Leaving my day job, striking out on my own, and launching a new newsletter is a daunting task, so if you enjoyed reading this issue, I hope you’ll consider upgrading your subscription. Thanks for reading!