The full column is below the cut. Check it out and let me know what you think.

Congress is in trouble. And it’s not just Democrats, either.

In fact, the 2010 midterms are the least of Congress’ problems. They’re in trouble as an institution of democracy. As the largest and arguably most important elected body of the U.S. government, they’re suffering a communications crisis of epic proportions.

Really, it’s even more than a crisis. They’re on the brink of a communications catastrophe.

The cause is simply public perception. Believe it or not, the 111th Congress has already accomplished larger, more significant legislative victories than almost any other Congress in history. But the public perceives them as a failure, because they haven’t communicated it well.

Let’s see, they kicked off the year by granting equal pay for equal work. Pretty reasonable. Then they expanded health insurance for millions of needy children. They’ve also protected about two million acres of American wilderness, expanded national service programs like AmeriCorps, broadened power to enforce financial fraud, protected credit card consumers, regulated tobacco, created the successful Cash for Clunkers program and granted emergency aid to Haiti.

Oh, and they rescued the U.S. economy by passing one of the most comprehensive and successful spending bills in history.

So, why does everyone still hate them?

Their polling numbers are literally at rock bottom. Only a meager 18 percent of the country approves of their work, while 78 percent disapprove. Here’s some advice:

Dear Congress,

This isn’t going to be some minor fix. You’re not just “in a rut.” You won’t be able to weasel your way out of this one, and regardless of the outcome of this November’s election, these problems won’t just go away.

I think you need to do three things.

First, make President Barack Obama’s “question time” with Republicans a regular event. Make it law. Or make a resolution. Either way, make it happen. Often.

See, question time didn’t just allow Obama to score points (although he certainly schooled House Republicans). It allowed for an open, unobstructed, rational and civil debate between our president and our legislators. This communication needs to happen more often, and the public needs to be able to see it.

Transparency builds trust. Question time is transparent. Thus, question time builds trust. See the connection here?

Second, campaign on your own accomplishments, not someone else’s.

Look at the stimulus bill. Numerous Republican members of Congress are out bragging about the new infrastructure and jobs that “they” have created, then coming back to D.C. and railing against the very stimulus bill that created those opportunities—and that they voted against. Hypocritical much?

For that matter, campaign on your own accomplishments and not on other’s supposed “failures.” Bad-mouthing your opponents doesn’t make you look good; it makes you look petty. And that’s part of what’s keeping Congress painted in such a negative light.

Finally—and this is a real revelation, folks — learn to communicate. Whether it’s staffers, your press team, or all you Congressmen yourselves, you’re doing an absurdly bad job at talking to us, the people you represent.

Send us letters. Get online. Explain, objectively, what bills are about (and if you don’t know, get someone who works for you to do it). Take 30 minutes a day and answer your office’s phones yourself, instead of giving it to an intern. Never, ever use ghost tweeters or ghost bloggers.

Does all that sound hard? It’s not. You’ve got it easy, while millions of Americans are struggling to pay their bills.

Work harder. Do better. Communicate.

This week is proof. Wednesday night’s State of the Union speech was not a complete revolution in the rhetoric, but it was far more detailed, passionate, and blunt than I think anyone really expected. And the American public seem to have received it well, with 83% of speech watchers approving of his proposals.

Thursday we saw the bold announcement of a new high-speed rail proposal, utilizing $8 billion of stimulus funds. This announcement is a huge deal for each state involved, and is a pretty well-supported investment. God knows I can’t wait for a high-speed trip to NYC from DC.

Finally, in one of the most glorious demonstrations of American democracy I’ve ever seen in my lifetime, we had a direct question and answer session with President Obama and House Republicans Friday afternoon. Not only was it pleasantly surprising to see the GOP actually invite our Democratic President to come speak with them but, to put it bluntly, he absolutely schooled them.

He shot down their accusations. He legitimized and substantiated his proposals. He took them to task for their ridiculous politicizing and demonization of his policies. He did everything right. Have you seen it? You need to. Especially if you’re a Republican. I’ll join with journalists all over the Internet calling for this to be a regular occurrence. Let’s make “question time” happen all the time. Hell, let’s put it in the Constitution. Anything to make this kind of reasoned, even, logical debate happen more often and in public.

Have you seen the video? Watch it below. Miss the State of the Union? Check out the video embedded above.

In the end, it’s been a good week for Democrats. And it’s been a great week for Obama. I don’t know if I’d call this Obama v2.0 as much as a return to Obama v1.0, after a regression to Obama v0.5.

Consider this a rebound. Obama is back in the game. Maybe it was a wake-up call from Massachusetts, maybe it was advice from David Plouffe, or maybe it was simply Obama deciding it was time to change the way he’s been doing things. Regardless, I like it. I think this is a good thing for Democrats, a good thing for Obama, and a good thing for America. And look at how quickly the past week has changed things–if nothing else, this week should teach us all that things in politics can change incredibly quickly. We’ve got about ten months between now and November, I have no doubt Republicans will have good weeks and Democrats will have good weeks. Here’s hoping we can see more “question time”-style debate, more civil debate and more productivity on Capitol Hill between now and then, too.

Edit: Thanks so much to Andi Narvaez (@andinarvaez) for the tip on “Rebound” instead of “Reboot”. Flows much better, and certainly more contextually appropriate given his appearance at today’s Georgetown v. Duke game.