just weeks after republicans<u+2019> election drubbing in 2012, their party launched a systematic self-examination that produced an <u+201c>autopsy<u+201d> report on their political failings. now, after suffering an even bigger set of political losses that put control of congress and the white house in republican hands, democrats are taking a different approach. in the absence of a galvanizing party leader or a consensus about what the democratic party should do in the wake of the 2016 election, there is a proliferation of power centers offering different diagnoses and solutions for the future. the democratic national committee<u+2019>s interim chairwoman, donna brazile, tuesday announced that a <u+201c>new advisory group<u+201d> would be named to study the 2016 results. liberal donors are convening to plot the course ahead at a retreat in florida in january. progressive activists are angling to seize control of the dnc chairmanship. moderate democrats are trying to stage a coup in house leadership. others are looking farther into the future, to gird for the next round of congressional redistricting. and president barack obama and vice president joe biden, who held the white house at a time when the party<u+2019>s ranks were decimated in statehouses, both say they may remain engaged and help the party rebuild. the scattershot self-examination is reminiscent of will rogers<u+2019> famous aphorism: <u+201c>i am not a member of any organized political party. i am a democrat.<u+201d> the various factions don<u+2019>t even agree on how big a problem the party faces. while many are stunned by the 2016 results and see a fire raging, others are warning against overreacting. they note that mrs. clinton won the popular vote and that the electoral college outcome was decided by a narrow margin in a handful of states; that camp views the problem as one of communication, not policy. <u+201c>democrats do have to do some thinking about how do we make sure that the message we have is received effectively and results in winning elections,<u+201d> mr. obama said at a recent press conference. <u+201c>i don<u+2019>t think that there has to be a complete overhaul here. i think that there does have to be better organization, a smarter message.<u+201d> others are more alarmed<u+2014>not just because they lost the white house, but because the party has suffered calamitous losses in state legislatures and governorships over the last eight years. <u+201c>when you are where democrats are right now, which is at the state level at our lowest ebb in the nation<u+2019>s history, the rethinking starts with a lot of informal conversations,<u+2019><u+2019> said mike stewart, chairman of the democratic caucus in the tennessee state assembly, who has been reaching out to state legislators across the country to rebuild the party from the bottom up. after republicans lost the 2012 presidential election, party chairman reince priebus launched a top-to-bottom review of the party apparatus, and four months later the group issued a report that called for major changes in fundraising, organizing and the outreach to new voters. not all of its recommendations were implemented effectively, most notably a call to improve outreach to hispanic voters. and in fact mr. trump<u+2019>s nationalist campaign rhetoric ran roughshod over many of those recommendations, and he won anyway. however, the republican national committee did improve its get-out-the-vote operation, which was more competitive in november. nothing so dramatic seems in the works for democrats. ms. brazile<u+2019>s statement tuesday mentioned that the dnc would name an advisory panel to look into why mrs. clinton lost in the electoral college and <u+201c>how we can reconnect with hardworking americans from every segment of society and every community in this country.<u+201d> she said more details would be revealed at a meeting of the party<u+2019>s executive committee in denver next week. some of the most robust debate about where the party is headed centers on who will succeed ms. brazile as dnc chairman. liberals and their allied activist groups are promoting rep. keith ellison of minnesota, a strong voice from the wing of the party that supported sen. bernie sanders in the democratic primary. some obama allies are looking for an alternative, and his labor secretary, tom perez, may jump into the race. others have been promoting mr. biden, but his spokesperson has said he wants to serve the party in other ways, not as its chairman. <u+201c>i think what we need right now is someone who can unify the various parts of the party,<u+2019><u+2019> said ed rendell, former dnc chairman and former pennsylvania governor, who is urging mr. biden to consider the job. at the denver dnc meeting next week, the association of state democratic chairs will invite candidates for the post to make their pitch. but the new chair isn<u+2019>t going to be picked until february. meanwhile, house democrats will be weighing their options nov. 30, when they meet to elect their party leader. house minority leader nancy pelosi, of california, is facing a challenge to her re-election as leader from rep. tim ryan of ohio, who says the party needs a fresh face and louder voice from the industrial midwest, where mr. trump won over many once-democratic voters. another venue for democratic debate is being convened by clinton ally david brock, head of a network of liberal advocacy organizations, including the opposition research group american bridge 21st century and the press watchdog media matters for america. mr. brock has invited 400 liberal donors to a retreat in palm springs, fla., in january, during inauguration weekend, to participate in an election postmortem and strategy session. mr. brock says he plans to stay out of ideological and strategic fights among democrats and focus instead on amping up attacks on mr. trump and his administration. another avenue for restoring the party is being pursued through state legislative and gubernatorial races. regaining state power is important because those losses threaten the party<u+2019>s standing in the crucial process of drawing of district lines after the 2020 census<u+2014>a process that republicans dominated after their big gains in the 2010 midterms, when democrats lacked the gop<u+2019>s coordination and focus on state-level races. hoping to learn from that mistake, democrats this summer formed a new group, the national democratic redistricting committee, to help elect more governors and state legislators in 2018 and 2020. the effort is headed by former attorney general eric holder, and mr. obama has identified it as one of his post-presidency political missions. <u+201c>the obituaries of the republican party in 2008 looked a lot like the obituaries of the democratic party today, and the way they rebuilt was at the state level,<u+2019><u+2019> said jared leopold, spokesman for the democratic governors association who is working with the redistricting project. <u+201c>it<u+2019>s an effective model in terms of rebuilding and getting fresh blood into the party.<u+201d> some democrats say they don<u+2019>t believe a full blown <u+201c>autopsy<u+201d> of its 2016 failings is needed<u+2014>if only because the gop report in 2013 proved how ineffective such analyses can be. <u+201c>i think we should do some introspection,<u+201d> said mr. rendell. <u+201c>i just don<u+2019>t think we should put it down on paper.<u+201d> write to janet hook at janet.hook@wsj.com
democrats struggle to regroup after loss  - wsj
janet hook