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Exactly.

DU was far more populated and widely-read in the old days, when the TOS was enforced and it was a truly Democrat-supporting site. RWers were booted off in record time, and shit-stirrers never lasted more than a few posts.

Despite disagreements, there was always a sense of "we're all Dems, and we're all in this together". Now I doubt that even 50% of the posters here are actually Democrats.

I will never understand why such a highly-successful political site decided to change the rules and the way it operates, only to see it devolve into its current state. DU's Alexa ratings have declined steadily since the changes, so one can only wonder what Skinner thought he was achieving by making changes that have actually lost the site its once lofty position as a political message board.

When an Admin tries to persuade posters on a "discussion" site that they can "enhance their DU experience" by actually minimizing their discussion with each other - well, that pretty much says it all.

I keep hoping that someone will launch a Democratic site modeled on the original DU - so those of us who remember what it was to be part of a community of fellow Dems have a place to feel at home again.

And I've no doubt that such a site would quickly become as successful as DU once was - and still would be, if not for the totally unnecessary (and detrimental) changes its owner chose to make.

It's been a classic case of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". And the original concept and operation of DU was never broke. So why it was "fixed" will always remain a mystery.