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Democrat Party (phrase)
"Democrat Party" is a political epithet used in the United States instead of the name (or more precisely, the proper noun) Democratic Party. The term has been used by some conservative commentators and some members of the Republican Party in speeches and press releases. Some Democratic Party candidates, party officials, and non-partisan commentators have objected to the term.[1] New Yorker commentator Hendrik Hertzberg wrote: There?s no great mystery about the motives behind this deliberate misnaming. 'Democrat Party' is a slur, or intended to be ? a handy way to express contempt. Aesthetic judgments are subjective, of course, but 'Democrat Party' is jarring verging on ugly. It fairly screams 'rat'.[2]
History of usage"Democrat Party" has been used from time to time by opponents of the Democratic Party and sometimes by others. The earliest known use of the term, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, was by a London stock-market analyst, who wrote in 1890, "Whether a little farmer from South Carolina named Tillman is going to rule the Democrat Party in America ? yet it is this, and not output, on which the proximate value of silver depends."[3] The term was used by Herbert Hoover in 1932, and in the late 1930s by Republicans who used it to criticize Democratic big city machines run by powerful political bosses in what they considered undemocratic fashion. Republican leader Harold Stassen said in 1940, "I emphasized that the party controlled in large measure at that time by Hague in New Jersey, Pendergast in Missouri and Kelly-Nash in Chicago should not be called a 'Democratic Party.' It should be called the 'Democrat Party.'"[2] Democrat as an adjective was still sometimes used by some twentieth-century Republicans as a campaign tool but was used with particular virulence by the late senator Joseph R. McCarthy of Wisconsin, a Republican who sought by repeatedly calling it the Democrat party to deny it any possible benefit of the suggestion that it might also be democratic. The noun-as-adjective has been used by Republican leaders since the 1940s and appears in some GOP national platforms since 1948.[4] In 1947, Republican leader Senator Robert A. Taft said, "Nor can we expect any other policy from any Democrat Party or any Democrat President under present day conditions. They cannot possibly win an election solely through the support of the solid South, and yet their political strategists believe the Southern Democrat Party will not break away no matter how radical the allies imposed upon it."[5] President Dwight D. Eisenhower used the term in his acceptance speech in 1952 and in partisan speeches to Republican groups.[6] Ruth Walker notes how Joseph McCarthy repeatedly used the phrase "the Democrat Party," and critics argue that if McCarthy used the term in the 1950s, then no one else should do so.[7] The Dan Smoot Report throughout the 50s and 60s used the phrase, almost without exception. Strictly speaking, its use is a mirror reflection of the use of "Republican" in that "Republicans" make up the "Republican Party" whereas "Democrats" make up the "Democrat Party". The use of the term is an attempt to separate the people that make up the party from the principle outlined in their name. It stems from the notion that a collection of Democrats is not necessarily a democratic collection. However, the moniker of "Democrat" is derived from "Democratic Party" and not vice-versa so the construction in this fashion is not proper. In 1996, the wording "Democratic Party" was removed throughout the Republican party platform. Party leaders said that they wanted to make the point that the Democratic Party had become elitist, no longer small-d democratic. In August 2008, the Republican platform committee voted down a proposal to use the phrase "Democrat Party" in the 2008 platform, deciding to use the proper "Democratic Party". "We probably should use what the actual name is," said Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour, the panel's chairman. "At least in writing."[8] Current usageFollowing the inauguration of President George W. Bush in 2001, he often used the noun-as-adjective when referring to the opposition party.[9][10] Likewise, it is in common use by former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay,[11] House Minority Leader John Boehner,[12] Senator Charles Grassley,[13] Congressman Steve Buyer,[14] and others. In 2006, Ruth Marcus, a columnist for The Washington Post, noted that "[t]he derisive use of 'Democrat' in this way was a Bush staple during the recent campaign", and she chastised Bush for the intentionally offensive usage.[15] Bush also spoke of the "Democrat majority" in his 2007 State of the Union Address.[16] The advance copy that was given to members of Congress read "Democratic majority."[17] Bush joked about his leadership of the "Republic Party" the following month.[18] Alaska governor and Republican Party vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin used the epithet during the 2008 United States presidential campaign.[19][20] Aside from partisan usage, the term can also occasionally be found in less partisan media. Media Matters for America, a progressive organization that monitors the media, found "Democrat Party" used (in isolated instances) by CNN, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Chicago Tribune, and the Associated Press.[21] Issues of grammar"Democratic Party" is a proper noun and any other such term is wrong. If the term "Democratic Party" were not a proper noun, the grammatical usage of the term "democrat party" would be correct, e.g. "shoe store," "school bus," "peace movement," "Senate election," etc. An argument in favor of the usage of "democrat party" is that Americans commonly speak of "the Iraq war" rather than "the Iraqi war"[22],[23] but the term as a proper noun has not yet been thoroughly determined. If the term "Iraq War" were to become a proper noun, it would be correct, but otherwise, would need to be "the War in Iraq" or else "the Iraqi War." ResponseMembers of the Republican Party, from political commentators to George Bush and John McCain themselves, made especially extensive use of the term "Democrat Party" during the run-up to the 2006 midterm elections. In response to the growing use of the epithet in late 2006, a corresponding epithet for the Republican Party, the "Republic Party", began to circulate in liberal parts of the blogosphere; the previous Republican waves of usage had inspired the "Publican Party", but this failed to catch on.[24] Democrats complained about the use of "Democrat" as an adjective in the 2007 State of the Union address by President Bush. "Like nails on a chalkboard," complained Clinton White House Chief of Staff John Podesta. Political analyst Charlie Cook attributed its use to force of habit rather than a deliberate epithet by Republicans: "[They] have been doing it so long that they probably don't even realize they're doing it."[17] On February 4, 2007, Bush joked in a speech to House Democrats, stating "Now look, my diction isn't all that good. I have been accused of occasionally mangling the English language. And so I appreciate you inviting the head of the Republic Party."[25] Additionally, Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) repeatedly invoked the phrase "The Republic Party" on the floor of the United States House of Representatives in February 2007 while lambasting Congressional Republicans.[26] On the other hand, the hypercorrection of using Democratic as a noun has been employed, especially in asserting bipartisanship. Charlie Crist, Republican governor of Florida, claiming essential agreement with both of his state's Senators, said that "he'd already had communications with Senator Bill Nelson, who happens to be a Democratic."[27] Another corresponding noun-as-adjective response has also begun to circulate on the Internet: "The Republicans Party."[28] Members of the Democratic Underground have proposed that "Republicon Party" be used as a counter to the Republican adoption of "Democrat Party" as a putdown.[29] Sherman Yellen suggested "The Republicants" as suitably comparable in terms of negative connotation in an April 29, 2007 Huffington Post commentary[30] On the February 26, 2009 edition of Hardball with Chris Matthews, Republican Representative Darrell Issa referred to "a Democrat Congress". The host, Chris Matthews, took exception, saying: Well, I think the Democratic Party calls itself the Democratic Party, not the Democrat Party. Do we have to do this every night? Why do people talk like this? Is this just fighting words to get the name on?[31] Issa denied that he intended to use "fighting words". Matthews replied, "They call themselves the Democratic Party. Let?s just call people what they call themselves and stop the Mickey Mouse here - save that for the stump."[31] In March 2009, after Representative Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) repeatedly used the phrase "Democrat Party" when questioning U.S. Office of Management and Budget director Peter Orszag, Representative Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) said: I?d like to begin by saying to my colleague from Texas that there isn?t a single member on this side of the aisle that belongs to the ?Democrat Party.? We belong to the Democratic Party. So the party you were referring to doesn?t even exist. And I would just appreciate the courtesy when you?re referring to our party, if you?re referring to the Democratic Party, to refer to it as such.[32] FootnotesReferences
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