"Leader DeLay"??? What's up with that?

[Benjamin Zimmer]

On Thu, 12 May 2005 20:02:28 EDT, Dale Coye <Dalecoye at AOL.COM> wrote:

>A story on Tom DeLay on the radio had interviews with two Republican
>members of Congress both of whom referred to him as "Leader DeLay"  --as
>in "Leader DeLay has contributed to my campaign needs..."    Is this
>standard practice in Washington?  It conjures up images of Fuehrer DeLay
>or Il Duce--  I vote we just call him Mr.

A quick Nexis search suggests that this is a recent feature of Hill-speak,
but it's not restricted to Republicans (as either addresser or addressee).
In fact, the earliest example I noticed was from a statement by Clinton:

-----
Pres. Clinton (Washington Post, Jan. 4, 1996): "I have been impressed by
the efforts made on all sides, including those by Senator Dole and by
Speaker Gingrich and Leader Armey and Senator Daschle and Mr. Gephardt."
-----

More recently, both Democrats and Republicans have used the "Leader X"
form of address for Democrats like Gephardt and Pelosi:

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Rep. Benjamin Cardin (D-Md.) (St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Apr. 9, 2000):
"There will be a true bipartisan spirit in this institution. Leader
Gephardt is committed to it."
-----
Pres. Bush (New York Times, Oct. 3, 2002): "I want to thank in particular
Speaker Hastert and Leader Gephardt, Leader Lott for the tremendous work
in building bipartisan support on this vital issue."
-----
Pres. Bush (New York Times, Nov. 8, 2002): "I talked to Senator Daschle
yesterday and said that although the Republican Party now leads the
Senate, I still want to work with him to get things done for the American
people. I talked to Leader Gephardt as well."
-----
Gephardt spokesman Erik Smith (St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 20, 2003):
"Gephardt's in close consultation with Leader Pelosi, and when he's
needed, he's there."
-----
National Republican Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Thomas
Reynolds (Sacramento Bee, Nov. 5, 2004): "This is personally demoralizing
to House Democrats and it's personally damaging to Leader Pelosi."
-----
DC statehood lobbyist Ray Browne (Washington Post, Feb. 17, 2005):
"Washington, D.C., is the most Democratic city in the country and I
cannot, for the life of me, understand why Mrs. Norton and Leader Pelosi
are not actively behind the bill."
-----

I think it only *sounds* more nefarious (if you're predisposed to hear it
that way) when it's used by Republicans pledging their loyalty to DeLay.



--Ben Zimmer