Republicans and Democrats. Is There a Difference?

I read today this well-thought out post by a guy with whom I disagree a lot of the time, but he takes the time to think about the issues: Left In Aboite: Ford takes on Big Oil. The post has to do with Rep. Harold Ford airing television commercials about high gas prices. The first comment to the post really bugged me:

"I would love to see video of that ad when it airs. Democrats NEED to hit this angle:

Republicans = big oil, big business, party of privilege, party of raping the middle class, etc etc."

Isn't that what both major parties have been doing for years? Other than big oil, every other thing he lists can be attributed to both Republicans and Democrats. We have to get this notion out of our heads that political parties exist to solve problems. Political parties exist to get people elected. That's when our blind loyalty to our party should end. After we win, or lose, we should work together to address how best we can get government out of the way so the private sector can fix our wagon.

It's really a shame that we can't get together and solve problems rather than deride those with whom we disagree.