I'm a little late, but I'll take a shot:
#1: One problem is that the IDers have failed to concretely state what it is in scientific terms. If scientists critique one definitions they claim it's a strawman attack because this other definition is the right one.
#2: ID is stealth creationism. This has been clearly stated by the Discovery Institute itself in the "Wedge Strategy." Here are some selected quotes from them:
- Goal "To replace materialistic [scientific] explanations with the theistic understanding that nature and hurnan beings are created by God."
- "This isn't really, and never has been a debate about science. Its about religion and philosophy."
- "Our strategy has been to change the subject a bit so that we can get the issue of intelligent design, which really means the reality of God, before the academic world and into the schools."
- "The objective is to convince people that Darwinism is inherently atheistic, thus shifting the debate from creationism vs. evolution to the existence of God vs. the non-existence of God. From there people are introduced to the truth of the Bible and then the question of sin and finally introduced to Jesus."
#3: Nice turnaround on the "God of the gaps." Scientists are losing this because they're not as good at rhetoric. Scientists have closed LOTS of gaps. They fixed up Newton's questions about planetary orbit (the most famous "God of the gaps" instance), and quite a few in Evolution. At least scientists know they can say "I don't know," which is the honest thing to do.
#4: The problem is with the IDers not being able to put together a paper that passes the sniff test at the journals. Please remove the tin foil hat.
#5: Actually, scientists who make wild claims are most often attacked by other scientists, not the public. IDers are sad their newborn "theory" is getting hammered and feel persecuted -- well wake up, this is science's vetting process, get used to it. Einstein himself attacked quantum theory, but it's still going strong and has even crossed into practical application.