Hmmm....I see earning respect differently.Democrats have traditionally been the ones looking for areas of agreement, seeking bipartisan support for their bills, going in with rational propositions and even then compromising. The republicans have traditionally seen that as weak and took advantage of it. The US Overton window is so skewed that, from a European perspective, the most radical leftist would be dead center here.
Democracy should be a game where you can have opposing positions on almost everything as long as you agree on the rules of the game. But even that is highly questionable after the acquittal of Trump. Are the republicans still into democracy? Is there even a basis for finding agreement?
As I see it, the democrats have to earn the respect of the republicans by beating them up, enforcing their policies without caring about compromises. Republicans are usually authoritarian, they like to be treated that way. Sometimes you have to first earn respect before you can discuss eye to eye. The US left doesn't have the respect of the right and many don't even have self respect.
Civility & effective negotiation look more promising.
As for which party is worse, I'll leave that to the warring sides.