And the Republicans don't want this linkage to exist in any manner

I wonder if the same is true for "Republic" as oppossed to "Republican?" I know I react negatively to Republican.

Pearl Harbor changed everything.  Far more than 9/11.

IMO, it was a derogatory term dating back to red meat Republican circles at least 30 years but it has only surfaced in the MSM over the last 10 or 15 years.

The thoughts of this group may date back to Goldwater and Reagan but the attack dog style and anything goes mentality is pure Nixon.

as in only arrogant, liberal, elite, bicoastal, blue-state types bother to speak, uh, proper(ly)... maybe?

It makes even our party's name elitist.

Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy used it in his live TV appearance on the first broadcast of "Face the Nation" on Nov. 7, 1954 (DVD in "Face the Nation," book by Bob Schieffer).

When Bob Dole revived the term "Democrat Party" during the 1976 presidential campaign, I recall hearing political commentators describe it as a throwback to the time of Joe McCarthy in the fifties. The quote above is from an anonymous comment at The Biscuit Report.

The usual cant response given by Republicans when challenged on this usage is that the Demcratic Party isn't really democratic, so it doesn't deserve the full adjective. In reality, this merely lowers political discourse to the level of the playground bully who tries to demean you by deliberately mispronouncing your name. (For the same reason, I disdain childish terms like "Rethuglican".)

I think we should be aggressive with those who leave the "ic" out of "Democratic Party". The California Republican Party has even gone so far as to edit others' quotes on its website to make them conform with the GOP's petty usage. If Republicans can't even get the official name of the opposition party right, can they do anything else right? Yes, I know. Rhetorical.

Kos' thoughts on it here.

Perhaps this is just a symptom of Republican hatred for grammar.

1. An advocate of democracy.

2. Democrat A member of the Democratic Party.

It seems childish, but many of the effective techniques Republicans use are childish. I don't know how you counter it, except with counter ridicule. If it were me, every time someone used Democrat party, I would respond with Republic party several times over.

Childish is as childish does. For some reason it works in American politics.

As a side note...I've always wondered which saying is correct:
"Vote Democratic" or "Vote Democrat"

I have seen both on various campaign posters/buttons/DNC literature...any thoughts?

Calling someone a Democratic Senator works though, and it should be part of Democratic Party strategy to use this type of reference more often than the former one: the word Democrat.

It is important for Democrats to do this, because the word Democrat actually hurts the Democratic Party in some ways. It has been written in articles in newspapers that Republicans love to use the word Democrat in lieu of Democratic whenever possible.

The reason Republicans like this term better, is because it may hurt Democrats in an inconspicuous but very tangible way.

The word Democrat rhymes with bureaucrat. Republicans gradually gained more power throughout the 80s and 90s by tagging Democrats as big-government tax and spenders. Just about every part of the Republican coalition dislikes (at least before 2000) the idea of  big government bureaucrats telling ordinary non-Beltway folk what to do in their lives.

Economic libertarians and rich country club Republicans dislike perceived Federal economic/welfare planning and bureaucracy. Southern and plains states social conservatives dislike the idea of liberal east-coast bureaucratic elites on the Federal bench, making crucial culture war decisions.

It isn't just Republicans that can be negatively swayed by the idea of a large east-coast tax and spend bureaucracy being run by liberal elites. Swing voters and independents can be negatively swayed by this idea as well.

Democratic is a great word -- it conjures up all of the positive connotations of U.S. Democracy, the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, and the American Revolution.

The word Democratic brings to mind the word Democracy much more than the word Democrat does. Democrats should try to incorporate the word Democratic into lingo about themselves whenever possible.

Democrats are Democrats and will remain so. It is part of their history and legacy. But Democrats can also use the word Democratic to their advantage much more than they do so currently.

It may have started as a red-neck error, but I remember the deliberate use of the term by Reagan Republicans as part of spin.  Ugly sounding, ugly intention in the part of the speaker.

Since that time, Republicans have repeatedly used the term to demean the Democratic Party and have had willing or unwitting sycophants in the media.  What is distressing is to hear Democrats frequently use the term.  It is yet another example of Democrats using the language employed by Republicans and cooked up by their Madison Avenue consultants to control the language and define the debate.  

What is interesting is a definition of "democrat" that may be found in the American Heritage Dictionary, 2nd Edition (1985).  In the definition, the following statement is made: "Usage: Republican politicians have long been in the habit of referring to the Democratic Party as the 'Democrat Party' but this usage does not have wide acceptance off the campaign stump".

I would add, that is, unless we let the Republicans get away with it, or worse, aid them in corrupting both the language and the political environment.  Nouns do not modify nouns and Republicans should not define our party!

"The Democrat Party: The Party that actually believes in democracy."

The Democrat Party: The Party for people that serve their country in the military instead of hiding behind deferments."  

"The Democrat Party:  The Party that represents workers and small businesses, not WalMart and Enron."

"The Democrat Party: The Party where 'supporting the troops' means body armour and armoured vehicles, not pansy-ass yellow ribbons."

Print up buttons, bumper stickers and lawn signs.  Photcopy it and staple to telephones poles like it's the world's biggest yardsale.  Say it so loud and so often that those worthless pigfuckers start screaming for mercy and jamming pencils through their eardrums when they hear the words "The Democrat Party."

It can only hurt us if we let it.

I used to regard use of "Democrat Party" as an indicator that the user was a real dumb asshole, but now I think that of all Republicans.

 I come from a redneck part of the country and as long as I can remember -- way before Dubya -- even Democrats talk about the "Democrat Party.

I think it's a Southern thing.  Yep, it's folksy, but not all the folks are Republicans who use it in my neck of the woods.

Other people supposedly espouse republican ideas and they also join together in a party to promote their ideas -- the Republican party, the party of republican ideas.

Therefore, by analogy to "Democrats" we should refer to members of the Republican party as "Republics" -- if only to annoy them.

I kind of like that.

And while we're changing our language habits, let's make a serious effort to stop using "conservative" to describe the radical right-wing authoritarians in charge of the Republican party and in control of the White House and the Congress, since they're clearly not "conservative" in any reasonable sense of the word.

That being said, this is the critical question:  Would you consciously speak in a manner that was favorable to your political party if it made you sound like an ignorant fool?  I suspect that the answer to that question for most Democrats would be "no".  Republicans, OTOH, seem to have no problem looking like ignoramuses if it furthers their political goals.

Not sure whether to just roll with it or oppose it.  I have wondered whether Dems shouldn't object every time it's used on the floor of a legislative body and call for a ruling that it be spoken and rendered "Democratic."

By the way, I recollect that Bush in the last campaign would alternate usages depending upon the audience -- using "Democrat" in front of partisan Republican audiences and "Democratic" in bipartistan "reach out" sessions.  So clearly it's deliberate.

The Republic party?
The Repub party?
The Repo party?

As Matthew Santos(D-TX) said on the West Wing last week we should , "[go home with our]head[s] held high and say 'I am a member of the DEMOCRATIC Party.'"

Yes, I know he's fictional and I took him slightly out of context but it would be nice if officeholders would meet this head on when it slaps them in the face.        

Semanticists and social psychologists probably have a better explanation for this, but I see it as a means of control.  Doing this allows the speaker to control the "frame" by smearing the essence of a person, not just a particular characteristic of a person.  

I can't say why, but it sounds so much worse to say "He's a Liberal" instead of "He's Liberal."  "He's a Democrat" instead of "He's Democratic".  "He's a Jew" instead of "He's Jewish."  

Perhaps it's the idea that describing someone with a noun forecloses the possibility of any cross-identification with this person.  To say someone is "liberal" provides the possibility that they still share some common characteristic "liberal republican" or "liberal southerner".  "A liberal" identifies the group, and forecloses any overlap with any other kind of group.  "He's nothing but a liberal".

Some thoughts, anyway.