I make the disclaimer that this may seem heated, but it is only b/c I'm A. Working on 3 hours of sleep and B. Believe in what I say in this more than I even realize at times. Please understand that if you get ticked, I'm sorry, but this is a thread about stirring the pot, so consider it whipped!!! 
First of all Rudey, I do wear birkenstocks and tie dyes (I like them, they're comfy) and I attend protests and I am going to school for six years, but that is because I am getting my double major in political science (concentrations in Foriegn Policy and American Political System) and communications with a minor in psychology (concentration in social psychology) and am taking a semester off so I can go to Europe and study European political systems, and I can tell you that I have a better understanding of foriegn and domestic policies than most Americans do. While I am one of "those crazy protesters", I am also the president of Model United Nations and working on having a global economics roundtable regulary this next year. We're smarter than you think.
I understand that you were trying to make a joke, but those ppl attending those protests and fighting for causes they believe in are doing a HELL of a lot more than most other ppl in America, especially when 1/2 of us don't even vote. At least those ppl you talk of are doing their part to better the world in the way they feel it can best be fixed. (Also, if anyone would like, while I am not a firm believer in all of the reasons, please PM me and ask me why ppl protest the WTO, b/c they have very good points, whether you believe in them or not and they do feel they are saving entire civilizations).
To answer the question at hand: I think that Killarney has gotten to the root of the division between Dems and Republicans and I agree with that statement.
I am a Democrat and one of the proudest there is. I believe in my party because they believe in helping everyone, not just the "chosen few" sipping their martini's at the country club. Nothing feels better to me than knowing that I am fighting for the rights of all people and trying to make the world a better place from the bottom up. The top doesn't need our help, it's those without a voice who do.
The Democrats are why there is HUD housing for ALL families down on their luck, they are why my friends don't have to use a different bathroom than I b/c they just happened to be born a little darker than I was. They are why my gay and lesbian friends are SAFE to love who they choose to and be who they are, free from persecution or violence. They are why women have the right to do all the same things as men and they are hopefully why one day all women will make just as much as a man in the same job as her. They are why we have the right to choose what is best for OUR bodies and OUR life. They are why one day, if YOU fall on hard times, you will get a hand up, not a hand out. They are leading the fight for Prescription Drug Coverage so that YOUR GRANDPARENT doesn't have to choose between eating and taking their medication. They are the ones trying to find alternatives to the current health care system so that people don't have to sell their life away to save their lives. They are who are fighting to save our public school system, not just give up and try to push kids into glorified parochial schools. They are who is trying to even the disparities between a child who goes to the wealthiest school district around and a child who was tossed aside b/c their district can't even afford books or paper for them. They are the ones who are fighting for EVERYONE EVERYDAY
Another quote that can be said is that "People are Republicans until something bad happens to them". There is a poem that I love and forgive me if I don't know the name of the author but it ends "And then they came for me and there was no one to speak out for me." I am glad to be a part of something that is fighting to do whatever it can to improve the world and the conditions of OUR people.