politically sensitive labels

[Duane Campbell]

On Wed, 10 Mar 2004 21:59:38 -0500 David Bergdahl <einstein at FROGNET.NET>
writes:
> I think the use of "democrat" by Republicans antedates Gingrich--I'm
> sure
> Reagan used it and maybe even Nixon and Ford, if not Goldwater.

Possible. But I don't think it gained currency until Gingrich and his
C-SPAN speeches to an empty gallery.

A word on the utility of the change. I had a talk just this evening about
the counties in Florida that were in contention in 2000, and I mentioned
that all had an election commission with a Democrat majority. That was
accurate and clear. Had I said that all three had a D(or d)emocratic
majority, it would have taken on overtones that the opposite would have
not been small-d democratic.

Sam Clements and Fred Shapiro have offered thought provoking lists of
words associated with conservatives. I'm not altogher comfortable with
the anologies, but I'm going to sleep on it.

I think the use of words in a political context is appropriate for
discussion in this very political year. I know I am a partisan, and I
also know that my particular partisanship is in a tiny minority on this
list, but I would hope we could discuss the words without doing serious
bodily harm.

D