I have a friend who is on the CRJ at Mesaba, and I was talking to him about this today. Here's what he told me; It's all about seniority. If you can get into an airline with low-time, then do it. I was curious about the respect factor from the captains at these airlines and I asked my buddy about that. If you know your stuff there is no reason for them to not respect you, and there is no reason for you to not apply.
However, there are low-timer kids who shouldn't have their hands on a Seminole let alone a CRJ. If you go into a job like this completely unprepared, then you're going to be a burden on everyone you fly with and it wont be fun for you or the guys you fly with. So figure out which one you are and act accordingly.
With all that said, there are a ton of guys out on furlough right now at multiple regionals. Don't expect these airlines to set their minimums to a commercial-multi ticket anytime soon.