To be brutally honest, it probably plays a big part that a lot of conservatives are tired of being argued with. 

A few got banned after going on tirades.

First time revisiting this thread in a while… wow it’s a lot more quiet than it used to be. Seems like the Trump admin is going about as anyone could have predicted. Nothing super interesting TBH. Just a ton of those in power putting on a show for the masses, trying to sell a quickly fading illusion of democracy. It really doesn’t feel like they are trying anymore— at least up until the Obama years, purple prose and formalities were still being used. Now it’s just straight up AI alien sitings lol.

I can only speak myself, but the lack of open debate on both sides is why I quit contributing.  I hear one side talking about how bad the GoP is, but yet they can't beat the GoP, which means what about their side?  

I mean imagine team A talking about how bad team B is, but team B wins by 30 points, lol.  

My view hasn't really changed in a number of years; the Democrat's platform isn't as popular as people think it is.  But meh, whatever.  

There's different metrics though. 

Ronald Reagan was very charismatic, but his policies haven't done us much good. 

Jimmy Carter was a very nice person, but not an effective leader. 

Pretty sure Lyndon B Johnson was not really a good person, but largely a great president (aside from Vietnam).

Dems broadly have a lot of issues. Terrible at messaging. Still have corporate influences like Republicans, even if it's not quite as brazen. Way more divided than Republicans seem to be - like how some Republicans can call Trump Hitler, but then start voting in sync with him when he's elected.  

I think it's hard, probably partially because of corporate influences, but I think a lot of people have different views on how the Democratic Party should be operating.  

We have some people who think they should act like this:

And some who think they should act like this:

Michelle Obama: That is what Barack and I think about every day as we try to guide and protect our girls through the challenges of this unusual life in the spotlight -- how we urge them to ignore those who question their father’s citizenship or faith.  (Applause.)  How we insist that the hateful language they hear from public figures on TV does not represent the true spirit of this country.  (Applause.)  How we explain that when someone is cruel, or acts like a bully, you don’t stoop to their level -– no, our motto is, when they go low, we go high.  

I can only speak myself, but the lack of open debate on both sides is why I quit contributing.  I hear one side talking about how bad the GoP is, but yet they can't beat the GoP, which means what about their side?  

I mean imagine team A talking about how bad team B is, but team B wins by 30 points, lol.  

My view hasn't really changed in a number of years; the Democrat's platform isn't as popular as people think it is.  But meh, whatever.  

Since you speak only for yourself, let's focus on you and what you've written.

First, your premise is factually wrong. The Democrats have defeated the Republicans about fifty percent of the time in the last three decades. And if you’ve held these views for years, then you held them while Biden was literally in power.

It’s also irrational to draw any conclusions on whether a side is good or bad based on the volume of followers. You’ve committed a basic appeal to popularity fallacy. History is full of examples where those on the morally atrocious side of history outnumbered those on the ethical side (the Nazis being the obvious example, but also Stalinism, the Khmer Rouge, the Hutu movement, Jim Crow segregation in the US, South African apartheid, Imperial Japanese militarism, Francoism, Israeli colonialism, Talibanism, Wahhabism, the French Reign of Terror, the inquisitions & witch hunts).

It’s likely you’ve heard something along these lines before, yet have failed to adjust your opinions accordingly. And if I'm guessing correctly, will continue to fail to do so.

There's different metrics though. 

Ronald Reagan was very charismatic, but his policies haven't done us much good. 

Jimmy Carter was a very nice person, but not an effective leader. 

Pretty sure Lyndon B Johnson was not really a good person, but largely a great president (aside from Vietnam).

Dems broadly have a lot of issues. Terrible at messaging. Still have corporate influences like Republicans, even if it's not quite as brazen. Way more divided than Republicans seem to be - like how some Republicans can call Trump Hitler, but then start voting in sync with him when he's elected.