I can’t help but notice the startling resemblances between the Democratic Party and the 2010 Dallas Cowboys.

Both entered their reign of power with astronomical expectations, yet have failed to live up to the hype. The Cowboys lost 45-7 on Sunday. The Democrats lost 239-188 on election night.

Both are under the guidance of embattled leaders who have lost the faith of their base supporters and are bombarded with rumors of their impending demise every day. Sunday night in Green Bay, the Cowboys seemed to quit on head coach Wade Phillips. During the election campaigns, Democrats seemed to quit on President Obama. The Cowboys thought they were going to win the Super Bowl. The Democrats thought they were going to usher in a new wave of “change.”

A remedy to what ails the Dallas Cowboys and the Democratic Party is not readily available. Both need a major shift in the way they do business – a radical shakeup in their makeup.

For the Dallas Cowboys, the 2010 season is a lost cause, stick a fork in them if you haven’t already. The Democratic Party, on the other hand, still has a chance to save its season before it ends in 2012.

The Democratic Party needs to take a page from the Republican Party’s book and do three things to save their season.

First, they need to rally around their leader. For the GOP, that leader, at least figuratively, is Sarah Palin. She became the face of the “New GOP” and served as a rallying point for the party. Conversely, Democrats in tight races tried as hard as they could to distance themselves from Obama.

Second, they need a platform. The Tea Party movement marked the first time the GOP had a real platform since Reaganomics, and they rode that wave to big gains on election night. What is the Democratic platform? They need to unite together around a single ideology to combat the split that is forming in the party.

Third, they need to listen to the American people. The Republicans have done a far better job of listening to their voting base and the voices of America’s independent voters. The Democrats need to listen to their voting base and be willing to accept that the current agenda is not what the American voting populace wants.

If the Democrats want to keep the Senate and the White House in 2012, they have some work to do. Cowboys coach Wade Phillips is now unemployed. And if the Democrats don’t get busy, Obama and the Democrats will have more in common with Wade and the Cowboys in 2012 than they do now.