Democrat v. Democratic

[madmusic]

THE “IC” FACTOR
Issue of 2006-08-07
Posted 2006-07-31

snip

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.” At a slightly higher level of sophistication, it’s an attempt to deny the enemy the positive connotations of its chosen appellation. During the Cold War, many people bridled at obvious misnomers like “German Democratic Republic,” and perhaps there are some members of the Republican Party (which, come to think of it, has been drifting toward monarchism of late) who genuinely regard the Democratic Party as undemocratic. Perhaps there are some who hope to induce it to go out of existence by refusing to call it by its name, à la terming Israel “the Zionist entity.” And no doubt there are plenty of others who say “Democrat Party” just to needle the other side while signalling solidarity with their own—the partisan equivalent of flashing a gang sign.

http://www.newyorker.com/talk/content/articles/060807ta_talk_hertzberg

[Boston Critic]

1. We should answer in kind

...on the floor of Congress. Refer to the "Repugnant Party" or the "GOPher Party" and when called on it point out that the precedent has already been established that a political party may be mislabeled.

If they want to bar slurs on the GOPhers, let them bar "Democrat Party" as well.

[madmusic]

2. It has to be sneaky and sleezy, Not bold.

Come to think of it, it would have to be cowardly.

Maybe correction after correction, a slap with the ruler when they use it. Educate the children.

[Igel]

3. The problem is grammatical.

"Republican Party" is ambiguous between being a party in support of a republic, a party in support of the Republic, or a party of/for Republicans. "Republican" is both an adjective (yielding the first two options) and a noun (yielding the third option). I think of "Republican Party" as being the third option: a party of people calling themselves "Republicans". The idea of republicanism is mostly dead and meaningless to most people, including Republicans.

"Democratic Party" is not similarly ambiguous; it is a party in support of a democracy or a Democracy, but is not the party of Democrats. Note that I'm using the capital letter to signify a government that is a democracy, not a government with a strong democratic bent. Confounding the problem is that we are not a Democracy, but a democracy. I, personally, would not like to live in an unbridled Democracy. Again, the different is lost on most people, including most Democrats.

"Democrat Party" is the party of Democrats.

Either can be an insult, either can be the result of applying productive processes in English grammar. I've said Democrat Party not implying offense, however much that may shock people that assume everybody's view is the same as theirs, and believing all perceived insults are intended insults. I've heard both "Democrat Party" and "Democratic Party" used as insults. Intent matters in a civilized discourse.