I was prompted by this post to ponder the phenomenon of commentators with conservative agendas using the phrase “Democrat Party” instead of saying “Democratic.” This practice is very annoying, largely because it’s so slight as to go almost unnoticed. I remember misspeaking in this way as a child, and hearing my friends do it too — after all, if there are Democrats in the plural, just as there are Republicans, one might naively assume that it’s the Democrat Party just as there is the Republican one. Surely, though, if you’re on a nationally broadcast news network you should be better educated in your political terminology than my elementary school friends and I were.
It’s not about being uneducated, though; it’s a deliberate attempt on the part of Republicans to substitute a morally worse term where a better one stood. This Media Matters report describes the recent rise of the tactic, along with many examples from different news sources. This technique has been in practice for over a century, notably in the 1930s to criticize the decidedly undemocratic political machines run by members of the Democratic Party.
It’s very similar to the tactic of saying “Darwinist” or “evolutionist” instead of saying “evolutionary biologist,” or really, just “biologist.” That drives me batty, not only because it incorrectly portrays biologists as obsessed with a particular doctrine which they refuse to question, but also because it’s so hypocritical for creationists to try to call someone out on following religion-like dogma as though doing so is problematic. In the case of evolutionary biology, “Darwinist” actually sounds negative, though in this case “Democrat” sounds pretty neutral (apart from the tone of voice it’s spoken with). Nevertheless, democratic is an adjective we use in American society almost synonymously with good. Democratic institutions, democratic elections, democratic leadership. This is with a small d, but surely if all the international news coverage we see is about how our democratic allies are faring, and the US’s efforts to support and protect democratic institutions and supervise democratic elections abroad, surely we’d want to vote for a Democratic government right here at home! So don’t call it the Democratic Party — it sounds too much like calling them the Just and Fair Party, or the Nice, Happy Party.
At least in the other cases, an actual point is or was being made. in the 1930s, politicians and reporters were saying, “Political bosses aren’t democratic!” and they were right. Creationists are saying, “It’s unscientific to cling to one ideology as though it’s absolute truth!” and they have a point too, albeit a misdirected one. If you hear or read a commentator saying “Democrat Party” today, though, they don’t have any particular problem they’re trying to call to your attention. It’s nothing more than an insult and a petty attempt to remove any positive connotations we might have with “the Democratic Party.” It’s easy to let this slip by as you watch the news or read the paper, but if you catch it, be aware of the subtle trick people are attempting to play on you. We should decide for ourselves what we think about political parties, rather than letting strategists and spin doctors do it by subliminal suggestion.
Tags: journalism, politics