Political gamesmanship 101: A history of the use of "democrat party"

[Shakespeare]

Since this issue pops up so frequently on DU, it's pretty apparent that there are many who don't understand where this deliberate misuse originated. And anybody who thinks this isn't significant needs to go back and read Orwell's 1984 over and over and over until they get it. And if, after that, you STILL don't get it, pick up a copy of George Lakoff's Don't Think of an Elephant.

Until we acknowledge how immeasurably important framing is to politics--and use it as a tool like the republicans have--we remain in danger of being a permanent minority party.

In 1990, republicans Frank Luntz and Newt Gingrich circulated a (now notorious) memo to party strategists and spokesmen titled "Language: A Key Mechanism of Control." In addition to giving guidance on how to use the (grammatically incorrect) term "democrat party," it also gave them a laundry list of negative adjectives to use when referring to their opposition, and positive adjectives to use when referring to the GOP. The memo was taken very seriously--and put to immediate and faithful use by party activists. And they were so successful that this misuse has seeped into the mainstream media.

Here are some links that summarize the memo:

http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=1276

http://mediamatters.org/items/200608160005

A transcription of the actual memo here:

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article4443.htm

[aquart]

1. This should be permanently posted.

[EdwardM]

2. Wow,

That memo is a like a list of words used in every campaign ad in the past 15 years. Man, does our system need a complete overhaul.

[BlooInBloo]

3. McCarthy lives on.... btw - it didn't "seep" it was *injected*.

[Shakespeare]

4. kick for the morning crowd n/t

:kick:

[klook]

5. Original GOPAC memo does not contain "Democrat Party"

Agreed that the phrase is a) a tool to irritate Democrats and b) a sure-fire way to spot Republicans. It does appear that both Gingrich and Luntz promulgated the phrase "Democrat Party," but it doesn't appear in the 1990 memo. Just FYI--this is the only time the Democratic Party is mentioned in the 1990 GOPAC memo:

The list is divided into two sections: Optimistic Positive Governing words and phrases to help describe your vision for the future of your community (your message) and Contrasting words to help you clearly define the policies and record of your opponent and the Democratic party.

Interesting to note that the use of "Democrat Party" goes back as far as Warren G. Harding! Thanks for the info.

[Shakespeare]

6. No, but it was part and parcel with that memo. There were also....

...nationwide training seminars that GOPAC conducted, and if you'll read the summaries at those links, it does talk about Gingrich's use of "democrat party." The usage does predate that, but Gingrich and Luntz made it unofficial party policy to refer to us in that manner.

If you google the title of the memo, you'll find many, many more links on it as well.

[starroute]

7. I know it's older than that

Though Gingrich and co. may have made it official GOP policy, it had been around plenty before 1990. I recall it being used around 1972 -- I think by John Connally. The impression at the time was that the Republicans didn't want to admit that the Democrats stood for democracy and they didn't.

Google Groups turns up several examples from the middle 80's:

From 1983
http://groups.google.com/group/net.politics/browse_thread/thread/dd2fd532d93d6f1b/ccb8c6b40d503a9c?lnk=st&q=%22democrat+party%22&rnum=14&hl=en#ccb8c6b40d503a9c
http://groups.google.com/group/net.politics/browse_thread/thread/6a365bb5360ad824/9dcef9dd92a06f50?lnk=st&q=&rnum=5&hl=en#9dcef9dd92a06f50

From 1984
http://groups.google.com/group/net.flame/browse_thread/thread/ae012f6f0f1c9f20/92c464e256d746d9?lnk=st&q=&rnum=10&hl=en#92c464e256d746d9

From 1985
http://groups.google.com/group/net.politics/browse_thread/thread/f0831dcb69077992/6d516b880700d366?lnk=st&q=%22democrat+party%22&rnum=12&hl=en#6d516b880700d366

From 1986
http://groups.google.com/group/talk.politics.misc/browse_thread/thread/b1ef928abfce2b32/d1ab00a3be579058?lnk=st&q=%22democrat+party%22&rnum=13&hl=en#d1ab00a3be579058