Democrats have an amazing ability to detect Republican hypocrisy. Read the Daily Kos and Huffington Post or watch the Daily Show to see examples. The latest example is Rand Paul campaigning against earmarks, but after getting elected saying he would try to get Kentucky its share of earmark money. There's nothing Democratic partisans like more than pointing out the flaws and hypocrisy of Republican politicians and their supporters.
As great as Democrats are at detecting Republican hypocrisy, they're amazingly blind to hypocrisy on their own side. Let's take the Employee Free Choice Act as an example. That act would make it easier for workers to organize unions. Democrats in Congress supported the act and campaigned on it in 2008. After getting elected, they shelved the Employee Free Choice Act. The Democrats only supported the bill when it had no chance of passing. When they had large majorities in the House and Senate, they showed they don't care about helping workers organize unions. Bring up this example to a Democratic partisan, and you most likely will face a personal attack from this person.
A second example is the impeachment of George W. Bush. In 2006, when the Democrats were in the minority, 100 members of the House signed on in support of impeachment. The Democrats won control of the House in the 2006 election and took control in January 2007. After taking control of the House, the Democratic leadership took impeachment off the table. Dennis Kucinich offered up Articles of Impeachment against Bush, but the articles died in the House Judiciary Committee. You would think Democratic partisans would be enraged by the evil Bush getting away with his crimes, but they didn't show much anger because it was Democrats shirking their constitutional duties. It's easier for Democratic partisans to offer up excuses for Democratic failures and attack anyone who brings up these failures than to face up to reality. There's little difference between Democrats and Republicans on the most important issues.
