Candorville: 2/25/2007- Democrat Party
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February 25th, 2007

Candorville: 2/25/2007- Democrat Party

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No, it’s not called the “Democrat Party,” no matter how people excuse it. And yes, it is important. Words matter.From The New Yorker:

An e-mail from none other than “President George W. Bush,” arriving last Monday morning in millions of in-boxes, hinted strongly at where the Commander-in-Chief stands on the name issue. To wit:

The Democrat Party has a clear record when it comes to taxes.

And:

Nothing threatens our hard-won reforms and economic prosperity more than a Democrat victory this November.

And:

The difference is clear: if you want the government in your pocket, vote Democrat.

An alternative view is that it’s called the Democratic Party. The Democratic Party itself takes this view, and many nonpartisan authorities agree. The American Heritage College Dictionary, for example, defines the noun “Democratic Party” as “One of the two major US political parties, owing its origin to a split in the Democratic-Republican Party under Andrew Jackson in 1828.” (It defines “Democrat n” as “A Democratic Party member” and “Democratic adj” as “Of, relating to, or characteristic of the Democratic Party,” but gives no definition for—indeed, makes no mention of—“Democrat Party n” or “Democrat adj”.) Other dictionaries, and reference works generally, appear to be unanimous on these points. The broader literate public also comes down on the “Democratic” side, as indicated by frequency of usage. A Google search for “Democratic Party” yields around forty million hits. “Democrat Party” fetches fewer than two million.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.More…


Discussion (6)¬

  1. […] for this. I didn’t hear a single Media personality even mention this pathetic trend until my 2007 cartoon on the topic ran in the Washington Post (& everywhere else). Oh, and some other obscure comic called […]

  2. Joyce says:

    Recently, some Republicans are now saying that REAL Democrats will vote for Hillary. When I asked them what is a REAL Democrat their answer was simple. If you vote for Hillary. You can not reason with people who are so stubborn. The only thing you can do is to draw a cartoon like this that makes them laugh. Laughter often opens people’s minds, don’t you think?

  3. PeaceZGood says:

    Oh,, and the “Daily Nut Job” is hilarious! Hahaha. Obama wet his bed as a child and covered it up. ROFL !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  4. PeaceZGood says:

    I always wondered why the Republicans like to have war to protect our “Democratic” ways, but hate the democratic party. Weird. I even know someone who believes BOTH Democrats and Republicans are ALL communists, and put brainwashing into flu shots, so he refuses to get flu shots. Weird. How can these people even exist in a real world?

  5. […] Both Doonesebury and our friend Darrin Bell’s Candorville take on the “DemocRAT” issue in today’s Sunday strips. […]

  6. Candorville: “Democrat Party” vs. “DemocratIC Party”

    Liked what you just read here ? Vote for it on Blogmemes ! Candorville humorously touches on the reasons why so many Republicans are trying to change the name of the Democratic Party to “Democrat Party.”