politically sensitive labels

[Duane Campbell]

On Wed, 10 Mar 2004 17:50:11 -0600 Dennis Baron <debaron at UIUC.EDU>
writes:
> As long as we're on the subject, when did Democrat start replacing
> Democratic as a proper adj?

That was a Gingrich -- blessed be his name -- initiative. I, too, grew up
in an era where capital-D Democrats were Democratic. And I still feel
uncomfortable using Democrat as an adjective. But I force myself to do
it, not for partisan reasons but because it is clearer. For instance, you
don't always have to say "capital-D" to differentiate it from
"democratic" as a political system which Democrats do not exclusively
own.

Jefferson, BTW, was a member of the Democratic-Republican party.