The Democratic Party ‘autopsy’ somehow disappointed everyone

There’s an ancient, almost surely apocryphal story about a dog food company executive convening a big sales meeting. A very short version has the exec running through all of the company’s advantages: the best sales team, the best advertising, the best packaging, etc. He then irately asks, “So why aren’t we selling more dog food?” After a long silence, a small voice from the back ventures a guess: “Maybe the dogs don’t like it.” The story is a cliché, but a useful one in business and politics. For instance, the prelaunch internal name for Netflix was “Kibble,” a reminder that...