Keith Ellison has been deputy chairman of the Democratic National Committee for less than one year, but the Minnesota congressman already believes he’s diagnosed the party’s problems.

Writing in the Huffington Post this week, Ellison reflected on the legacy of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. “He didn’t always win, because an organized group of businessmen pushed back at every turn, but the people knew he was on their side and was fighting hard for them,” Ellison wrote. “If we, as Democrats, want to understand why we’ve dropped to the minority in both houses of Congress, lost control of the White House, and fallen from 31 governorships in 2008 to 17 today, we need to think seriously about that.”