Democrats recently lost a special election in Georgia even though they spent a massive amount of money campaigning against the Republican candidate. Despite this, many on the left still refuse to speak honestly about their own party.

Some liberals, however, like Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH), are unafraid of being honest about the state of the Democratic Party. Shortly after losing the election, he let everyone know the ugly truth.

Ryan, who was frustrated by the Republican victory in Georgia, wrote a brutally honest article bashing his own party. “Here is the the truth: the Democratic Party has a toxic brand, one that is worse than Donald Trump’s in many parts of the country,” he stated. To clarify, he added, “according to a CBS News poll, only 31 percent of voters believe a Democratic Congress would make their lives better.”

He also criticized those claiming the election loss in Georgia was somehow a good thing. “I’m tired of the excuses, and I’m tired of being told that we exceeded expectations,” he countered. “I don’t believe in moral victories. The only measure of success in political campaigns is victory. I don’t believe everyone should get a trophy,” he continued.

He believes that rather than celebrate defeat, the Democratic Party needs change tactics and come up with their own message. “My fear…is that…we’ve forgotten a fundamental truth: the Democratic Party is more than just an anti-Trump party. Unfortunately, that is mostly what the American people are hearing from us right now,” explained Ryan. “Frankly, people in the heartland are less concerned about Russia and Michael Flynn than they are about paying their monthly bills,” he reasoned, adding, “that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t support the investigations and get to the bottom this. Of course we should. But we need to be just as determined to create an economy that works for everyone.”

According to Ryan, Democrats need to focus less on attacking Trump and more on the helping the working class. He stated, “instead of responding with only anger to the Trump Administration, we need to be putting forth issues that bring more hope and optimism to working class families. People vote with their hopes and dreams — not their anger and hate.”

After writing the article, which quickly went viral, he was invited to chat with CNN’s Don Lemon. During their discussion, Lemon asked if House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) was partly to blame for the Party’s “toxic” reputation. Ryan, who tried to unseat her as House Minority Leader after the 2016 election, replied, “well, I think in some sense, yeah, she does…We’re coming off of an election and she’s been getting pounded now for 10 years with negative ads from the Republicans. I don’t think it’s fair, but clearly these ads…[are] still working.”

Lemon then asked if he thought she was more toxic than Trump. After hesitating, Ryan admitted, “the honest answer is in some areas of the country — yes, she is. I think that in certain areas, like in some of these special election districts, it doesn’t benefit our candidates to be tied to her.” When asked to explain further, he said, “as unfair as it is, there have been a lot of people spending a lot of money running negative ads against her. And I think that in certain areas, like in some of these special elections districts, it doesn’t benefit our candidates to be tied to her. It’s not fair, but it is true.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bt4A_5Ex10U

Surprisingly, Ryan isn’t the only liberal willing to speak honestly about the problems plaguing the Democratic Party. Earlier this week, Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-MI) made her concerns public as well. “We’ve become this identity politics. We’re the women’s caucus, the black caucus, the Hispanic caucus,” she complained, noting that she sometimes doesn’t feel like she belongs to any of them. “We’ve lost sense of ‘we,’ that our strength comes in community, and that community of all of us,” she added.

Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA) also spoke out against the Democratic Party and called on them to change tactics. On Twitter, he wrote, “#Ossof Race better be a wake up call for Democrats – business as usual isn’t working. Time to stop rehashing 2016 and talk about the future.” In a follow-up tweet, he added, “we need a genuinely new message, a serious jobs plan that reaches all Americans, and a bigger tent not a smaller one. Focus on the future.”

#Ossof Race better be a wake up call for Democrats – business as usual isn't working. Time to stop rehashing 2016 and talk about the future. — Seth Moulton (@sethmoulton) June 21, 2017

Unless the Democratic Party makes some radical changes, it’s likely that they’ll continue to lose elections. If they want to start winning, they need to replace Pelosi as the House Minority Leader because doing so would help make their brand much less toxic. On top of that, they also need to focus less on identity politics and being anti-Trump, and more on trade and the working class, because those are the issues that many Americans truly care about.