"Given how many times you've deliberately used the insult "Repugnicans," I think you're a much bigger "jerk" than I am."
But, I was doing it DELIBERATELY!<g>
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GOP strategists christen "Democrat [sic] Party" -- and the media comply
Summary: Several media figures, including news reporters, echoed Republicans by employing the word "Democrat" as an adjective to refer to things or people of, or relating to, the Democratic Party.
mediamatters.org
In recent months, media figures, including news reporters at CNN, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, the Chicago Tribune, and the Associated Press echoed Republicans by employing the word "Democrat" as an adjective to describe things or people of, or relating to, the Democratic Party -- including referring to the "Democrat" Party itself, even though that is not the party's name. The ungrammatical conversion of the noun "Democrat" to an adjective was the brainchild of Republican partisans, presumably an attempt to deny the opposing party the claim to being "democratic" -- or in the words of New Yorker magazine senior editor Hendrik Hertzberg, "to deny the enemy the positive connotations of its chosen appellation." In the early 1990s, apparently due largely to the urging of then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA) and Republican pollster Frank Luntz, the use of the word "Democrat" as an adjective became near-universal among Republicans.
Hertzberg pointed out in an article for the August 7 issue of The New Yorker that the word "Democrat" is a noun, arguing that its use as an adjective defies the rules of English grammar:
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.
Hertzberg noted that Republicans "as far back as the Harding Administration" have referred to the "Democrat Party," including late Sen. Joseph McCarthy (R-WI), who "made it a regular part of his arsenal of insults," and former Sen. Bob Dole (R-KS), who "denounced 'Democrat wars' ... in his [1976] Vice-Presidential debate with [former Sen.] Walter Mondale [D-MN]."
Further, Hertzberg wrote that "among those of the Republican persuasion," the use of " 'Democrat Party' is now nearly universal" thanks to "Newt Gingrich, the nominal author of the notorious 1990 memo 'Language: A Key Mechanism of Control,' and his Contract with America pollster, Frank Luntz." While Hertzberg noted that Luntz "road-tested the adjectival use of 'Democrat' with a focus group in 2001" and "concluded that the only people who really dislike it are highly partisan adherents of the ... Democratic Party," he also wrote that Luntz had told him recently that "[t]hose two letters ['ic'] actually do matter," and that Luntz "recently finished writing a book ... entitled 'Words That Work.' "
Notwithstanding its partisan pedigree and grammatical awkwardness, a Media Matters for America review* of the Nexis database for the last three months found a number of examples of media figures, including news reporters, using the word "Democrat" as an adjective. For instance, on the August 13 broadcast of CBS' Face the Nation, guest host and CBS News correspondent Scott Pelley used "Democrat" as an adjective four times, referring to both the "Democrat Party" and the "Democrat primary," during an interview with Connecticut Democratic Senate candidate Ned Lamont.
Additionally, Media Matters' review found similar use of the word "Democrat" as an adjective by the following reporters and media figures:
* CNN senior political correspondent Candy Crowley, on the August 8 edition of CNN's Anderson Cooper 360.
* CNN national correspondent Bob Franken, on the May 26 edition of CNN's American Morning.
* New York Times senior writer Robin Toner, in a May 31 article.
* Wall Street Journal reporter Theo Francis, in an August 11 article (subscription required).
* Chicago Tribune business columnist Bill Barnhart, in an August 15 column.
* AP writer Peter Jackson, in a May 16 article.
* AP writer Tom Raum, in a June 16 article.
*(democrat party or democrat primary or democrat candidate or democrat strategy or democrat strategist or democrat response or democrat lawmaker or democrat congress! or democrat representative or democrat senat! or democrat member or democrat caucus or democrat house or democrat proposal or democrat bill or democrat politic! or democrat plan or democrat legislat! or democrat tactic or democrat ploy or democrat statement or democrat press or democrat release or democrat claim or democrat agenda or democrat talking point or democrat nomin!) and date(geq (5/16/06) and leq (8/16/06)) |
