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Democrat Party (view source)

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[[File:Party affiliation in the USA in 2022.jpg|thumbnail|right|300px|Since [[Barack Hussein Obama]]'s election in 2008, which was a reflection of the Democratic Party moving politically [[leftism|leftward]] on social issues and also embracing corporate influence, the Democratic Party has seen a significant loss of registered voters.]]

:''For the political party in Thailand, see [[Democrat Party (Thailand)]]''

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'''Democrat Party''' is the grammatically correct term for the [[Democratic Party]]. The Party is not "[[democratic]]," and proper nouns like "Democrat" are not converted into adjectives by adding "ic" as a suffix. For example, it is not the "Republicanic Party," or the "Libertarianic Party," or a "Smith-ic Wedding." Yet many Democrats bristle at the term "Democrat Party," and perhaps they prefer the false illusion that their party is somehow more "democratic" than other parties. In fact, the Democrat Party is '''''less''''' democratic than the other political parties, as '''''demonstrated again by the last-minute, undemocratic replacement of [[Joe Biden]] with [[Kamala Harris]] as its presidential nominee in 2024'''''.

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'''Democrat Party''' is the grammatically correct term for the [[Democratic Party]]. The Party is not "[[democratic]]," and proper nouns like "Democrat" are not converted into adjectives by adding "ic" as a suffix. For example, it is not the "Republicanic Party," or the "Libertarianic Party," or a "Smith-ic Wedding." Yet many Democrats bristle at the term "Democrat Party," and perhaps they prefer the false illusion that their party is somehow more "democratic" than other parties. In fact, the Democrat Party is '''''less''''' democratic than the other political parties, as '''''demonstrated again by the last-minute, undemocratic replacement of [[Joe Biden]] with [[Kamala Harris]] as its presidential nominee in 2024'''''.

In the 1800s, the Democrat Party was predominantly pro-[[slavery]]. Today, the Democrat Party is predominantly [[pro-abortion]] and [[left-wing]] on social and economic issues.

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Aside from partisan usage, the term can also be found used in non-partisan media. [[Media Matters for America]] has documented the occasional use of "Democrat Party" by CNN, ''The New York Times'', ''The Wall Street Journal'', ''The Chicago Tribune'', and the Associated Press. Abroad the term is occasionally used by the [[BBC]].<ref>[[Media Matters for America]], August 16, 2006. [http://mediamatters.org/items/200608160005 "GOP strategists christen 'Democrat (sic) Party' -- and the media comply"] On BBC see [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4259291.stm], on ''[[USA Today]]'' see [https://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-10-11-reid_x.htm]; on [[Fox News]] see [https://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,227961,00.html]</ref>

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Some state and local Democratic organizations use the noun-as-adjective on their web pages in Colorado, Illinois, Kansas, Missouri and Indiana.<ref>[http://www.jeffcodems.org/web/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=117&Itemid=2 ''Chair's Newsletter--March 31-April 11, 2006'']. Jefferson County Democratic Party. Retrieved 2007-01-26. [http://www.il-democrats.org/DeWitt/calendar.html ''DeWitt County Democrat Party'']. Retrieved 2007-01-25. Indiana. [http://democrat.whitleynet.org/ ''Whitley County Democrat Party'']. Retrieved 2007-01-25. [http://www.ksdp.org/node/3044] regarding "The Kansas House Democrat Caucus" and "The Democrat Leadership Team" in 2007. On Missouri see [http://missouridems.org/calendar/] for "February 15, 2007: Saline County Democrat Club" and "March 2, 2007: Missouri Democrat Days."</ref> Lyman (1958) noted that "Democrat party" is common local usage in Maryland. In Indiana numerous "Democrat clubs" have filed ~~incorporation~~ with the Secretary of State, indicating widespread non-controversial usage among local Democrats.<ref>In Indiana there are 34 incorporated groups with "Democrat" as part of their legal name (versus 226 that use "Democratic"). These seem to be active local clubs. (Brown County is the official county organization). Alphabetically the first few are as follows: 17th District Democrat Club, Inc.; Indianapolis, 17th Ward Democrat Club Inc.; Andrew Jackson Democrat Club Of Tippecanoe County; Bloomfield Democrat Incorp.; Brown County Democrat Central Committee Corporation; City Of Portage Democrat Club; Clark County Democrat Men's Club, Inc.; Clinton County Democrat Club Inc., etc. Source: [https://secure.in.gov/sos/bus_service/online_corps/name_search_results.aspx?search_name=democrat&search_type=exact&client_id=&search_mode=search&submit.x=0&submit.y=0].</ref>

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Some state and local Democratic organizations use the noun-as-adjective on their web pages in Colorado, Illinois, Kansas, Missouri and Indiana.<ref>[http://www.jeffcodems.org/web/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=117&Itemid=2 ''Chair's Newsletter--March 31-April 11, 2006'']. Jefferson County Democratic Party. Retrieved 2007-01-26. [http://www.il-democrats.org/DeWitt/calendar.html ''DeWitt County Democrat Party'']. Retrieved 2007-01-25. Indiana. [http://democrat.whitleynet.org/ ''Whitley County Democrat Party'']. Retrieved 2007-01-25. [http://www.ksdp.org/node/3044] regarding "The Kansas House Democrat Caucus" and "The Democrat Leadership Team" in 2007. On Missouri see [http://missouridems.org/calendar/] for "February 15, 2007: Saline County Democrat Club" and "March 2, 2007: Missouri Democrat Days."</ref> Lyman (1958) noted that "Democrat party" is common local usage in Maryland. In Indiana numerous "Democrat clubs" have filed incorporations with the Secretary of State, indicating widespread non-controversial usage among local Democrats.<ref>In Indiana there are 34 incorporated groups with "Democrat" as part of their legal name (versus 226 that use "Democratic"). These seem to be active local clubs. (Brown County is the official county organization). Alphabetically the first few are as follows: 17th District Democrat Club, Inc.; Indianapolis, 17th Ward Democrat Club Inc.; Andrew Jackson Democrat Club Of Tippecanoe County; Bloomfield Democrat Incorp.; Brown County Democrat Central Committee Corporation; City Of Portage Democrat Club; Clark County Democrat Men's Club, Inc.; Clinton County Democrat Club Inc., etc. Source: [https://secure.in.gov/sos/bus_service/online_corps/name_search_results.aspx?search_name=democrat&search_type=exact&client_id=&search_mode=search&submit.x=0&submit.y=0].</ref>

U.S. President [[Donald Trump]] has stated he prefers using the term "Democrat Party."<ref>Kasperowicz, Pete (October 26, 2018). [https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/trump-taunts-democrat-party-they-should-change-their-name Trump taunts 'Democrat' Party: 'They should change their name']. ''Washington Examiner''. Retrieved October 26, 2018.</ref>

===Democrats using "Democrat" as adjective===

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Although nationally prominent Democrats carefully avoid "Democrat Party," they have started to use "Democrat" as an adjective, as in the phrase, "not a Democrat or Republican problem." Thus Vice President-elect Joe Biden, speaking of the [[recession of 2008]], said "This is not a Democrat or Republican problem, we’ve got ourselves a problem." Likewise, Rep. Charles Rangel in prepared remarks said regarding the recession of 2008, "This is not a Democrat or Republican problem, but an American problem."<ref>see [http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/tag/cnn-political-producer-alexander-marquardt/ Biden Statement of Dec. 2, 2008]; also see [http://waysandmeans.house.gov/News.asp?FormMode=release&ID=862 Rangel statement of Feb. 13. 2009]</ref>

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Although nationally prominent Democrats carefully avoid "Democrat Party," they have started to use "Democrat" as an adjective, as in the phrase, "not a Democrat or Republican problem." Thus Vice President-elect Joe Biden, speaking of the [[recession of 2008]], said "This is not a Democrat or Republican problem, we’ve got ourselves a problem." Likewise, Rep. Charles Rangel in prepared remarks said regarding the recession of 2008, "This is not a Democrat or Republican problem, but an American problem."<ref>see [http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/tag/cnn-political-producer-alexander-marquardt/ Biden Statement of Dec. 2, 2008]; also see [http://waysandmeans.house.gov/News.asp?FormMode=release&ID=862 Rangel statement of Feb. 13. 2009]</ref>

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Regarding the New Jersey budget crisis, "It’s not a Democrat or Republican problem," ~~said Governor Jon Corzine~~.<ref>see [http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=corzines_choice June 20, 2008 interview.]</ref>

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Regarding the New Jersey budget crisis, Governor Jon Corzine said "It’s not a Democrat or Republican problem,".<ref>see [http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=corzines_choice June 20, 2008 interview.]</ref>

President Obama used "Democrat" as an adjective parallel to "Republican" in formal remarks at the White House in 2009:

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==Issues of grammar==

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Some believe that the use of the noun "Democrat" as an adjective is ungrammatical.<ref>Copperud (1980)</ref> Using a noun as a modifier of another noun is not grammatically incorrect in modern English in the formation of a compound noun, i.e. "shoe store," "school bus," "peace movement," "Senate election," etc. Americans commonly speak of "the Iraq war" rather than "the Iraqi war."<ref name=walker>Walker (2005); [https://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0812097203&id=efMpTxl3n2cC&pg=PA64&lpg=PA64&dq=%22nouns+used+as+adjectives%22&sig=7SOy_ENpfdI1iBit9e4yF36KwGM ''Master the Basics: English''] by Jean Yatets, 1996, page 64.</ref>

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Some believe that the use of the noun "Democrat" as an adjective is ungrammatical.<ref>Copperud (1980)</ref> Using a noun as a modifier of another noun is not grammatically incorrect in modern English in the formation of a compound noun, i.e. "shoe store," "school bus," "peace movement," "Senate election," etc. Americans commonly speak of "the Iraq war" rather than "the Iraqi war."<ref name=walker>Walker (2005); [https://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0812097203&id=efMpTxl3n2cC&pg=PA64&lpg=PA64&dq=%22nouns+used+as+adjectives%22&sig=7SOy_ENpfdI1iBit9e4yF36KwGM ''Master the Basics: English''] by Jean Yatets, 1996, page 64.</ref>

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In American history, many parties were named by their opponents (Federalists, Loco-Focos, Know-Nothings, Populists, Dixiecrats), including the Democrats themselves, as the Federalists in the 1790s used "Democratic Party" as a term of ridicule.<ref>Nunberg (2006); Safire, (1993), 176, 391-2, 595-6; Sperber and Trittschuh. 118-9, 150, 231-2.</ref>

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In American history, many parties were named by their opponents (Federalists, Loco-Focos, Know-Nothings, Populists, Dixiecrats), including the Democrats themselves, as the Federalists in the 1790s used "Democratic Party" as a term of ridicule.<ref>Nunberg (2006); Safire, (1993), 176, 391-2, 595-6; Sperber and Trittschuh. 118-9, 150, 231-2.</ref>

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The use of "Democrat Party" could be part of a broader linguistic trend. As one linguist explained, "We're losing our inflections – the special endings we use to distinguish between adjectives and nouns, for instance. There's a tendency to modify a noun with another noun rather than an adjective. Some may speak of "the Ukraine election" rather than 'the Ukrainian election' or 'the election in Ukraine,' for instance. It's 'the Iraq war' rather than 'the Iraqi war,' to give another example."<ref>Walker (2005)</ref>

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The use of "Democrat Party" could be part of a broader linguistic trend. As one linguist explained, "We're losing our inflections – the special endings we use to distinguish between adjectives and nouns, for instance. There's a tendency to modify a noun with another noun rather than an adjective. Some may speak of " the Ukraine election" rather than 'the Ukrainian election' or 'the election in Ukraine,' for instance. It's 'the Iraq war' rather than 'the Iraqi war,' to give another example."<ref>Walker (2005)</ref>

==Response==

Members of the Republican Party, from political commentators to President Bush himself, 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.<ref>Feuerlicht, 1956</ref>

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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 usage 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."<ref>Copeland</ref> 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."<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/03/AR2007020300701.html ''Washington Post'' Feb 4, 2007 at]</ref> Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-[[NY]]) repeatedly invoked the phrase "The Republic Party" on the floor of the House in February 2007 while lambasting Congressional Republicans.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsqprEihjXg Youtube - Anthony Weiner Rips the "Republic Party"].</ref>

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Democrats complained about the use of "Democrat" as an adjective in the 2007 State of the Union address by President Bush. Clinton White House Chief of Staff John Podesta complained "Like nails on a chalkboard," Political analyst Charlie Cook attributed its usage 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."<ref>Copeland</ref> 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."<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/03/AR2007020300701.html ''Washington Post'' Feb 4, 2007 at]</ref> Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-[[NY]]) repeatedly invoked the phrase "The Republic Party" on the floor of the House in February 2007 while lambasting Congressional Republicans.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsqprEihjXg Youtube - Anthony Weiner Rips the "Republic Party"].</ref>

Another corresponding noun-as-adjective response has also begun to circulate on the Internet: "The Republicans Party."<ref>[http://www.commondreams.org/views04/1018-02.htm][http://blogcritics.org/archives/2006/10/28/112436.php][http://www.ironweedfilms.com/node/525]</ref> 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.<ref>[http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x3190412 Democratic Underground thread]</ref>

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* John Lyman, "Democrat Party," ''American Speech'', Vol. 33, No. 3 (October 1958), pp. 239–40 [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0003-1283%28195810%2933%3A3%3C239%3ADP%3E2.0.CO%3B2-T in JSTOR] notes term as used by some Democrats in Maryland.

* ''Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage'', 1994, pp 328–29, page 667.

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* Geoffrey Nunberg. [http://www-csli.stanford.edu/~nunberg/democrats.html "The Case for Democracy"] in "Fresh Air" commentary, January 19, 2005 (radio broadcast).

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* Geoffrey Nunberg. [http://www-csli.stanford.edu/~nunberg/democrats.html "The Case for Democracy"] in "Fresh Air" commentary, January 19, 2005 (radio broadcast).* Geoffrey Nunberg, ''Talking Right: How Conservatives Turned Liberalism into a Tax-Raising, Latte-Drinking, Sushi-Eating, Volvo-Driving, New York Times-Reading, Body-Piercing, Hollywood-Loving, Left-Wing Freak Show'' 2006.

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* Geoffrey Nunberg, ''Talking Right: How Conservatives Turned Liberalism into a Tax-Raising, Latte-Drinking, Sushi-Eating, Volvo-Driving, New York Times-Reading, Body-Piercing, Hollywood-Loving, Left-Wing Freak Show'' 2006.

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* William Safire, ''Safire's New Political Dictionary'' (1993).

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* William Safire, ''Safire's New Political Dictionary'' (1993).

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* Hans Sperber and Travis Trittschuh. ''American Political Terms: An Historical Dictionary'' (1962), pages 117-23.

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* Hans Sperber and Travis Trittschuh. ''American Political Terms: An Historical Dictionary'' (1962) pages 117-23.

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* Walker, Ruth. [http://blogs.csmonitor.com/verbal_energy/2005/01/index.html "Republicans, Democrats, and the Afghan on the couch"] ''[[Christian Science Monitor]]'', January 27, 2005.

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* Walker, Ruth. [http://blogs.csmonitor.com/verbal_energy/2005/01/index.html "Republicans, Democrats, and the Afghan on the couch"] ''[[Christian Science Monitor]]'', January 27, 2005

* [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9904EFD61538F934A2575BC0A962948260 "Democrats Find Ally In Republican Camp"], ''UPI'', August 17, 1984.

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* Democratic Underground http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x3190412 March 31, 2007

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* Democratic Underground, http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x3190412, March 31, 2007.

====notes====

[[Category:Democratic Party]]

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Democrat Party (view source)

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