I agree. The E170 is nothing like the CRJ or the ERJ. Much more space, much more comfortable, comparable to a mainline aircraft. If it had a F/C cabin (as it does w/ UAL/UAX), I believe many FFer's would actually prefer the plane to the older 737s in the mainline. The E170 is really not an RJ.
As for long hauls in actual RJs, other carriers are far worse than US. UAL has an ATL-DEN flight w/ a CRJ-700. NWA does flights from mid-sized northeastern markets to MSP with CRJ-200s. AA does non-stops from some northeastern markets to DFW w/ a CRJ-700, as well. This is one area where US actually does a pretty good job by generally not stretching its RJs too far.
