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President Bush Congratulates the Democrat Majority

You may or may not have heard about objections being made to President Bush’s use of the phrase “Democrat majority” instead of “Democratic majority” in tonight’s State of the Union address. After providing a warm opening showing respect for the first female Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, President Bush went on to congratulate the “Democrat majority”. This language is very much in line with his talk of the “Democrat Party” as opposed to the “Democratic Party”.

Why is this important? It provides a bit of a glimpse into how President Bush carries himself as our country’s chief executive, and it shows his persistent desire to inflame his opponents, even while in their presence and even at a purely ceremonial event. But isn’t this just an example of a slip of the tongue? No, not given the universality with which President Bush makes such references to the Democratic Party. Which of these sounds more pleasing and proper?

“Senator Jones is a member of the Democratic Party.”

“Senator Jones is a member of the Democrat Party.”

In a society where huge corporations spend billions of marketing dollars trying to brand their products with a single word or catch phrase, Mr. Bush is pulling the political equivalent. He’s hoping to brand the “Democrat Party” as a crass and less distinguished bunch when compared to the “Republican Party”. It’s a very common ploy used in the deranged, far-right elements of talk radio and the blogosphere, but you rarely hear its use among self-respecting national politicians. The dignity of those offices usually preclude such childish nonsense.

Now, does it hurt anyone’s feelings? Possibly, though I can’t think of any Democrat saying they’re personally offended the President has called their party the “Democrat Party”. It’s not so much that the phrase is actually insulting; it’s more that it’s meant to be insulting. It exposes childish and vengeful components of the way in which Mr. Bush executes his job as president of the United States, and these qualities are unbecoming of the holder of the most respected office in our country.