Guys and Gals, it most certainly IS the "Democrat" party, not the "Democratic" party

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FirstFreedom

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Guys and Gals, it most certainly IS the "Democrat" party, not the "Democratic" party

[Edit: I decided to delete most of my posts in this thread because I was accused of being a jerk, so.....]

Suffice it to say that John Edwards (on TV yesterday) and many other politicians IN THAT PARTY, as well as journalists refer to this party as the "Democrat party", and surely they are not denigrating their own party. So "Democrat party" is ONE correct acceptable, albeit perhaps informal way to refer to this party.
 
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A very well-respected member of this forum who otherwise is almost always correct and the consummate voice of reason (you know who you are ) has claimed that it is incorrect, and in fact derogatory somehow, to call the major U.S. party which begins with a D and is represented by a donkey, the "Democrat" party, rather than the "Democratic" party. Yes, I believe this may be the first time he is just wrong. John Edwards himself, as well as several other talking heads, referred to his own party as the "Democrat" party - no he was not referring to persons collectively as democrats; rather he specifically used the phrase "Democrat party". Issue settled; I don't want to hear another peep. K thx.
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Ummmm.....this still doesn't make it correct.

Thanks, though.

Nothing new, either.

There's also a difference between a simple mistake on the part of a member of a group, and an intentional mistake repeated so as to disparage that group.

EDIT: I read it again and realized that you weren't being insulting, just wrong.
 
No. Why is it that you think YOU are right, and pretty much every politician in that party, and every talking head is wrong? Regardless of what the website says, there is more than one CORRECT way to refer to the party, and it can NOT be derogatory if JOHN EDWARDS, a POTUS president, refers to it that way, NOW CAN IT?
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Actually it can. Again, not only is it different when one outside of a group uses a disparaging word/term/label compared to when one inside the group does so (see: N-word) but there is also the question of intent.

And anyway, have Edwards or pro-Democratic "talking heads" used this nomenclature consistently? Because I've actually used it before as well...generally just by accident. A couple certain posters here use this reference every single time, and at least one has said they do so intentionally as an insult. It most certainly is derogatory to do so when that is your stated intent.

EDIT: Also, you're correct that a mistake, repeated often enough, can become an accepted usage. I'd argue that in this case we aren't quite there yet.
 
Hmmm, kay. Now you're just being silly. He cannot figure out the name of his own party, in which he's held national office for years on end, and run for POTUS under TWICE now? Get real, man. Surely if they did it before as you yourself heard, and they did it today (all the time in fact), and it was wrong and even the slightest bit derogatory as you suggest, then surely the party officials would have been clamoring then (and now) (and continually) for apologies and retractions/corrections. They don't, because it's not incorrect, and not the *slightest* bit derogatory, other than in your own mind, I would submit. However, I am open to contrary evidence, but you haven't provided any, rebutting that there is ANOTHER perfectly correct way to refer to the party, in addition to its official name on the website.
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I'm not interested in proving a negative, and frankly this is pretty asinine and un-threadworthy.

I'll simply say this. At least one poster, as well as multiple people making the statement in history (see this, specifically the portion "History of Usage"), have stated that the intent of the usage is as an insult. If you say something is meant as a derogatory remark, then I'd say that to some extent that makes it one...whether or not you manage to successfully insult somebody, the attempt was made.

And in my own mind? Yeah, right. I wrote both of those wikipedia pages, I'm sure. And I've never heard of this from political commentators, or read about it elsewhere. Just in my own head.

And yeah, I cited wikipedia. This thread is worth no more effort, though everything cited I've read from other sources that it's not worth my time to go dig back up. At least some portion was cited further on wiki...feel free to do your own research.

EDIT: And feel free to take the last word. This is a waste of my time, and a waste of internets. Good luck keeping this thread going without me, since it was apparently meant as nothing more than an attempt to publicly call me out.

EDIT: Oops...only cited one wikipedia page. The "Democrat Party" usage is mentioned on this one as well. I forgot what context I was going to link it in.
 
I have only ever heard one person, personally or in any of the forums complain about this EVER. Any guess who?

I hear it and/or read it daily.

If you have to WORK to be offended then it's a personal issue.

I believe the PC language patrol has gotten enough of our vernacular. And if 'democrat' is now a disparaging word, that's their own doing IMHO.
 
Well, it's kind of like one party calling itself the "wonderful, beautiful human being" party. It's possible that others might not accept this label and might think that it was an innocuous name for a party with some flaws. So, they might leave off a syllable or two.
 
Probably close to 50 years ago, my dad and one of his friends got into a discussion of the proper name for the Democrats. It can be called the "Democrat Party", or the 100% correct "Party of the Democrats", but NOT the "Democratic Party". The word "democratic" is only appropriate when used in reference to a TYPE of government, not a political party. (You could live in a "Republic" or a "Democratic" nation....but not a "Republican" nation or "Democrat" nation)

What the heck! Why not just call them Jacka$$es? It's been a long time since we had a "democratic" Democrat in the White House, but there have been a lot of Jacka$$es there! I hope we don't get a "Marxist" Democrat the next time around, but she's certainly retaining her popularity!
 
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