Dems: This is why we lost in 2014

The Democratic Party lacks a “single narrative” and must tighten its pitch to voters in order to compete in future elections, an interim report from the Democratic National Committee found. 

The report released at the party’s winter meeting recommended forming a national project to bring together party leaders, activists and messaging experts to hone in on a theme. 

{mosads}Currently, the party is “loosely understood as a long list of policy statements and not with a common set of core values,” according to the report. 

The review was launched last year shortly after Democrats lost control of the Senate in the midterm elections, while also losing additional seats in the House.

“We are Democrats because we believe in an economy where hard work is rewarded, and because we are focused on building a stronger and more secure middle class,” DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz (Fla.) said.  

The report notes the party has lost 69 seats in the House and 13 seats in the Senate since 2008. It has also given up the majority in 30 state legislatures and 11 governorships in that time.  

The party is pushing a six-year plan to win back state legislative chambers across the country in order to have a stronger voice in the 2020 redistricting process.

The report also recommends forming a more comprehensive voter registration project. Democrats should work on pushing state parties to be self-sustaining, while also developing more Democratic leaders at the state level, the report advises.

The full recommendations to be released in May will focus on several other areas as well. Those include exploring ways to peel off more white southern voters, while revving up support among base Democrats. The party will study what prevents some constituencies from voting with Democrats and what motivates drop off and independent voters. 

It will also explore reaching voters in specialty media and digital platforms. 

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus mocked the preliminary report Saturday after hearing that it was nine pages long.

“Sounds pretty serious,” Priebus tweeted. 

The GOP launched its own similar review, commonly known as the Republican autopsy, after losing the presidential election in 2012.