There’s something rotten in the Democratic Party. Everyone knows it, everyone sees it, and certainly, everyone feels it. On paper, the Democrats should have a nigh-invincible coalition composed of every rising group in the country. And yet Democrats have been chased out of power from the statehouse to the white house and everything in-between.

In large parts of the country, Democrat is a byword for all sorts of wicked and immoral things and liberal has become a new go-to curse word. This goes without mentioning the catastrophe of 2016 where Democrats experienced their worst defeat in decades across the proverbial board.

Much internal debate has emerged within the party about what needs to be done to prevent another calamity. Some pundits blame an over-reliance on identity politics for Democrats current woes and wish to abandon them and embrace a more economic message in the wake of the catastrophe. However, this is an idiotic proposal as all politics are fundamentally identity politics. Politics by its very essence is the question of “who gets what?” and “how?” Identity is at the core of this.

Calling to embrace a more economic message is not breaking away from identity politics, but expanding upon it. While rejecting identity politics is a senseless act, staying the current course is not a solution either.

The problems facing the Democrats extend beyond just how to present policy. Take a look at the current Democratic leadership and what do you see? A crop of stale, uninspired, milquetoast leaders who continue to trot out the same policies year after year and deliver the same lofty, but empty rhetoric.

There are a few exceptions, of course. Elizabeth Warren is quite the firebrand and much of her popularity is because of that. But this emptiness bleeds down from on high and infects everything it touches and does a far more effective job of demoralizing the base than Republican mudslinging ever could. On a personal note even living in the liberal bastion of San Francisco it’s hard to not feel at times that Democrats’ promises ring hollow, one can only see a homeless man sleeping under a refugee's welcome sign so many times after all.

Away from the esoteric discussions of philosophy or the wonky details of policy I’ve managed to boil down the three problems that I think are the sources of the Democrats’ current woes:

1. The question of identity

Democrats have lost touch with their roots as a modern political movement and struggle to build a coherent identity not just in ideology but also in policy. Take Obamacare for instance. It was presented as this bold new liberal healthcare reform when all it was was the microwaved leftovers of a Republican system. Far too much of the Democratic policy book is either old Republican ideas or watered down versions of Republican positions. We cannot be the party that just serves up the table scraps of the opposition and calls them our own, that is neither sustainable nor moral. Democrats need to establish a coherent vision of themselves and their ideas and articulate it to the voting public.

2. The lack of “élan” or fighting spirit

The Democrats are losers. This is the brand that our opponents have cast upon us, and you know what, they’re right. This wasn’t always the case; Democrats like Truman were famous for being scrappy, for never backing down from a fight, for doing the right thing public opinion be damned. Today’s Democrats lack this bite with their triangulation and focus groups smoothing the edges of personality and sapping the power of political rhetoric. Democrats need to be clear about WHO they are and WHAT they stand for. Liberal is not a dirty word and progressivism is not a bad thing. There is no need to apologize for caring about people and wanting to create a country that truly represents “liberty and justice for all.” We have to stop acting like our very existence is an inconvenience for the rest of the country; we should take pride in ourselves and what we’ve done because we have done some truly incredible things. The American people like guts and until we act like we have some they’ll never look to us to lead them.

3. A lack of imagination

There is a critical lack of big ideas in the American politics of today. The current political culture is built upon a philosophy of tinkering and micromanaging the world rather than dreaming big ideas to change it. This is one of the reasons I believe Trump won. The wall, the travel ban, the tariffs, and draining the swamp were all big ideas. Insane, terrible ideas that would never work, but big ideas nonetheless. The real shame in this is that Democrats used to be the party of big ideas; the New Deal, Marshall plan, civil rights, and the Great Society were all big ideas that strive to make the world a better place. I don’t know if today’s Democrats would ever endorse these ideas today and in that fear of being bold and of being, dare I say, a little radical that Democrats find their greatest obstacle.

The Democrats face a difficult road ahead. The party needs to resist simplistic explanations and scapegoating as it undergoes a complicated soul searching. The path to victory for Democrats lies in being able to produce a new crop of spirited energetic leaders who dream big and can articulate a vision of a better, brighter world while being prepared to fight for it. The only alternative is to slide into irrelevance and bitterness as the party slowly shatters and dies.