Democrats may have defeated Trump -- but they are still questioning what went wrong down ballot

Democrats managed to defeat former President Donald Trump by a landslide and acquire full control of Congress during the 2020 presidential election, but in private, they are still wondering how things went wrong down the ballots.

To combat the problem, Democratic interest groups are already convening to conduct an assessment of the election to figure out where things went wrong, according to The New York Times.

Four major Democratic advocacy groups—Third Way, described as "a centrist think tank"; End Citizens United, a clean-government advocacy group; the Latino Victory Fund; and Collective PAC, an organization that advocates for the election of Black Democratic candidates—are supporting an initiative to determine how they should approach the 2022 primary election in order to maintain control of the federal government.

The publication also notes that individuals briefed on the Democratic agenda have also outlined concerns about party losses in House districts largely populated with minority voters—particularly in California and Texas.

The review of the election results is said to be "probing tactical and strategic choices across the map, including Democratic messaging on the economy and the coronavirus pandemic, as well as organizational decisions like eschewing in-person canvassing."

With the landslide defeat against Trump, Democratic advocacy groups expected a better performance down the ballots. The publication reveals strategists on both sides of the aisle were "stunned" by the outcome as it raised concerns about the accuracy and reliability of poll assessments outlining "Democratic vulnerabilities in rural areas and right-of-center suburbs."

In addition to taking a deeper look at pollings, the publication reports that "they are said to be working with at least three influential bodies within the House Democratic caucus: the Congressional Black Caucus, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and the New Democrat Coalition, a group of centrist lawmakers. The groups have retained a Democratic consulting firm, 270 Strategies, to conduct interviews and analyze electoral data."

Dan Sena, a former executive director for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, admitted that Democrats were aware of the fact that the political party's election victory had not been a complete success story. "I think people know that there was good and bad coming out of '20 and there is a desire to look under the hood," Sena said.

Democrats are looking to improve that in the 2022 primary election.