Last month, several Democratic groups circulated a memo warning that Trump is peeling off support among those constituencies. The memo concluded that underinvestments in digital communications with those groups was a major problem.

But it turns out that a good deal of this angst was directed at Future Forward in particular. Democrats familiar with internal party communications say that the PAC—which is widely viewed as a conduit for powerful White House adviser Anita Dunn to exercise influence over party messaging and resources—is operating from too traditional a mindset. The PAC, they say, favors ads on broadcast television aimed at broad audiences—when reaching young and nonwhite voters requires a more targeted digital approach because their media sources have grown so fractured.

Switching to Harris really starting to feel like throwing a new coat of paint on a car with a rusted out frame