definition of grassroots

[NOLA DAISY]

Speaking of political terms, I am working on a Cultural Studies project that will discuss the use of the Internet for this 2004 Presidential election. So many Democratic candidates {Dean especially} as well as organizations like MoveOn.org and makeamericaworkforus.org describe themselves as being part of a new "grassroots" movement.

Has the definition changed in recent years?

Any guidance on this will be appreciated since it's vital that I define this term before analyzing those examples.

Thanks

Daisy Pignetti


"James A. Landau" <JJJRLandau at AOL.COM> wrote:
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Sender: American Dialect Society
Poster: "James A. Landau"
Subject: Re: democrat as an adjective
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On Wed, Mar 10, 2004 at 05:50:11PM -0600, Dennis Baron wrote:
> As long as we're on the subject, when did Democrat start replacing
> Democratic as a proper adj?

My father was an editor on the Louisville KY _Courier-Journal_ back when it
was owned by the Bingham family. In the terminology of the day, the
_Courier-Journal's_ editorial stance was "liberal Democratic".

Once when visiting my father's office (I can't date this citation except that
it was 1965 or before) I saw a memo from Mr. Bingham stating that the use of
"Democrat" as an adjective rather than "Democratic" was forbidden. I vaguely
recall that the memo stated this practice was a deliberate attempt by
Republicans to be derogatory.

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For a politically offensive label, consider the word "lackey" which is so
stereotyped as Communist propaganda that it is a shock to read _The Three
Musketeers_ and find Planchet et al consistently referred to as "lackeys".

Aside to Larry Horn: Anyone who refers to him/herself as a "knee-jerk
liberal" isn't.

- James A. Landau
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