I’ve been deeply disappointed to see some posters on Dailykos use the phrase “democrat party”. I will assume good faith on their part (as opposed to their being Right Wingers who here to cause trouble) and that they are not informed of the very good reasons why no progressive or democrat should ever use this insulting slur, whether verbally or in writing.
Here’s a good summary of this —
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2006/08/07/the-ic-factor
Suggest you read the whole thing, but in case you don’t, here are the key things everyone should know --
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.
You know who uses this phrase religiously? The folks whom none of us can stand!
In the conservative media, the phenomenon feeds more voraciously the closer you get to the mucky, sludgy bottom. “Democrat Party” is standard jargon on right-wing talk radio and common on winger Web sites like NewsMax.com, which blue-pencils Associated Press dispatches to de-“ic” references to the Party of F.D.R. and J.F.K. (The resulting impression that “Democrat Party” is O.K. with the A.P. is as phony as a North Korean travel brochure.)
So that’s it, short and to the point. Don’t use it, and if you are in dialogue with others who use it, don’t ever accept their doing so. If they are on the progressive side, politely educate them. If they are friends of yours who are conservative, let them know that it is insulting, and also that they sound like a very uneducated individual when they use such a grammatically incorrect phrase. If the first point doesn’t convince them, perhaps the second one will. If neither works, I personally would not engage in political dialogue with anyone that juvenile.
Just in case there is any question about proper usage — it’s the “democratic party”, a “democratic debate”, we will have a “democratic nominee” in a few months. A member of the democratic party, like myself, is “a democrat”.
FWIW — I am appalled that none of the prominent democrats who appear on radio or TV don’t push back when the other guests — or the hosts, if it’s Fox News Channel or it’s ilk — use this phrase. If I had that opportunity, I would call them out on it every time, and in no uncertain terms. I hope that they start doing so because we should not accept this slur lying down.