Can you tell me 5 or 6 different ways I can quickly and legally
eliminate my credit card debt without having a negative impact on my
credit rating.

Please give me as much detail as possible about each option.

Should I even mention the obvious...?

I seem to think that a serious Google Answer person isn't going to
touch this one...

1. Work hard and save your money and pay your bill on time.

2. Win the lottery.

3. If you currently own your home and have equity, consider a equity
take out and roll your cc debt into it. See your bank on that one.

4. Marry rich.

I don't really know where to start or end with this.  Google Answers
is more of a RESEARCH service not a life skills service.  If you could
maybe narrow your question to..."I have a lot of CC debt and am
contemplating choosing between these 2 options for getting rid of this
debt.  Please provide relevant papers and studies discussing
benefefits of either." You might get some better feedback.

Sorry...I generally try hard to answer positively but ...

Apart from gradually and consistently paying it off, I'm not sure
there are ways of eliminating credit card debt without impacting your
credit history. The quickest way is to file for bankruptcy but that
will impair your ability to obtain further credit for some time. This
route is generally recommended only in extreme and desperate cases.

Here is one method, that I have used....

The quickest way to pay off a large cc debt is to follow a rigid
budget.  Take you bills for the past 6 months and determine the exact
about of your monthly bills.  If you monthly bills approach the amount
owed to the cc companies, run don't walk to the near cc debt
counseling service (these are free services whose fees are paid by the
cc companies).  They will help you obtain lower interest rates and a
reasonable fixed payment schedule to get rid of the cc debt. You must
follow their recommendation if you want to get rid of the cc bill.

If you budget indicates that there is  enough money left (without
knowing you exact budget, I cannot give you amount.)  Go to the cc
company to whom you owe the least money and pay off the balance, then
ask them about debt consolidation at a low interest rate (in the past
4.5% was not uncommon, with the current prime rate 7-9% is more
likely). If they agree move all of your debt from cc's, and never,
never used to card to buy anything until the amount is paid off. Bad
things happen if you use the card to continue to buy stuff.  As for
all the rest of the cards, cut them up.  Save one for an emergency,
like buying plane tickets to see you terminally ill mother.  If you
cannot afford to pay cash, you don't need it. To determine you monthly
payment for the cc with all you debt.  Use a financial calculator and
input the interest rate, amount owed, and the time per over which you
want to make payment, press executed and it will tell you your monthly
payment.  On rare occasions, you may make a minimum payment, however,
never miss a payment or the interest rate will go to 29% until the
amount is paid off.

Getting out of debt is not easy.

This method will work, I paid off a large sum in two years.  Good Luck

Explore the idea of going to your local chapter of CCCS - "Consumer
Credit Counseling Services."

Here they are:
http://www.cccsintl.org/

They're a free service that will analyse your debt, restructure it,
contact all your creditors and negotiate lower payments and interest,
and pay all your bills for you. You make one payment a month, to them.
Note I said FREE.

I've did this about 20 years ago, it actually reflects better on your
credit report than late payments and the like.

~~Cynthia

Thanks to everyone that answered.