Did you know calling someone a "democrat" was an insult back in the day?

[Jeremy]

I don't know if this is more common knowledge than I thought... but back in the day of our founding fathers, a "democrat" was a bad word. They fully understood that democracy was a mob-rule, etc. so I guess the word became an insult. Kind of like how a conservative might use "liberal" as an insult perhaps?

Oh, and... you know how the Democratic Party tries to claim Jefferson's Party as their own. Well the original name of that party, of course, was the Republican Party. And I'm pretty sure the only reason it originally existed was to counter Hamilton's party. They were just a group of people in the Congress that agreed with Jefferson... I wonder what Jefferson would think of our current party system... heh.

 

[MRoCkEd]

wasn't he a "Democratic-Republican"

 

[Jeremy]

wasn't he a "Democratic-Republican"

That's what the party was eventually called. But they referred to themselves as Republicans because of republicanism.


Here's Wikipedia on their new name:

A related grass roots movement, the Democratic-Republican Societies arose in 1793–94; the use of "democratic" was supported by the French minister, Citizen Genet, a Girondin. It was not formally affiliated with the new party; though some local Jeffersonian republican leaders were also leaders of the societies. There were some three dozen of these societies; they did not nominate tickets or attempt to control legislatures, as the Republicans did.[40] The Federalists soon denounced the Democratic-Republican Societies.

I just find this stuff interesting =p

 

[fletcher]

Maybe that's why orders were send down to the neocon sheep to call the Democratic Party the Democrat Party. It really is amazing that someone up above can just send orders and the next day everyone follows.

 

[Jeremy]

Maybe that's why orders were send down to the neocon sheep to call the Democratic Party the Democrat Party. It really is amazing that someone up above can just send orders and the next day everyone follows.

Well the sad thing is that many highschoolers think the Democratic Party is for democracy and the Republican party is not. (And democracy is supposedly what we have... they don't know what republicanism is) In other words... that might be bad for the Dems, except the school system, of course, teaches that democracy is the only good thing, it's what we have, etc.. I remember my 11th grade teacher having to explain... yup... that the name "Democratic" doesn't mean the Republicans don't support democracy... "it's just a name".

 

[MoneyWhereMyMouthIs2]

My grandfather used to call me a little democrat many years ago, whe I was around 5 or 6. I didn't get it at the time, but I do now.

Well the sad thing is that many highschoolers think the Democratic Party is for democracy and the Republican party is not. (And democracy is supposedly what we have... they don't know what republicanism is) In other words... that might be bad for the Dems, except the school system, of course, teaches that democracy is the only good thing, it's what we have, etc..

I also thought liberal carried a better connotation than conservative, back before I knew the difference.

 

[Kludge]

Hahaha... I was watching Nick @ Nite when it transitioned into Nick Jr.... A commercial came up with children singing about how great it is that we have a democracy in a type of rock style. I'm glad I couldn't see what my face looked like, but I know I cringed pretty hard.

 

[RockEnds]

My grandfather used to call me a little democrat many years ago, whe I was around 5 or 6. I didn't get it at the time, but I do now.



I also thought liberal carried a better connotation than conservative, back before I knew the difference.

My dad used to accuse me of being a Democrat when he was mad. In fact, it was a good way to measure his anger. He considered it to be the ultimate insult, and if he said it, it was time for me to go hang out with mom!

 

[amy31416]

My dad used to accuse me of being a Democrat when he was mad. In fact, it was a good way to measure his anger. He considered it to be the ultimate insult, and if he said it, it was time for me to go hang out with mom!

That's mild!

My dad called me a left-wing, commie, pinko, socialist, Marxist ignoramus. (With the disclaimer that I associated the Republican party as a 16 year-old with intolerance, sexism and racism--so I considered myself a Democrat. I learned the error of my ways pretty quickly and soon switched to Independent.)

 

[MoneyWhereMyMouthIs2]

My dad used to accuse me of being a Democrat when he was mad. In fact, it was a good way to measure his anger. He considered it to be the ultimate insult, and if he said it, it was time for me to go hang out with mom!

In my case, I don't think anyone was mad. He was just joking about the fact that I was sucking up a lot of resources without contributing much. But he'd be mad all the time if he saw how things were now.

 

[RockEnds]

That's mild!

My dad called me a left-wing, commie, pinko, socialist, Marxist ignoramus. (With the disclaimer that I associated the Republican party as a 16 year-old with intolerance, sexism and racism--so I considered myself a Democrat. I learned the error of my ways pretty quickly and soon switched to Independent.)

Well, I was little! Those were the kinds of things he called the news anchor!

Edit: Come to think of it, that's probably why his wife (mom died) has banned political discussion at family events. Takes ALL the fun out of it. The poor, unsuspecting dates of the grandchildren never get a clear picture of just what they're getting into!

 

[Hook]

That's mild!

My dad called me a left-wing, commie, pinko, socialist, Marxist ignoramus. (With the disclaimer that I associated the Republican party as a 16 year-old with intolerance, sexism and racism--so I considered myself a Democrat. I learned the error of my ways pretty quickly and soon switched to Independent.)

Independent is much better. That way you don't get suckered in when parties go astray. Most people that identify with a party will change their principles to whatever the party proclaims for the day.

 

[JosephTheLibertarian]

Well the sad thing is that many highschoolers think the Democratic Party is for democracy and the Republican party is not. (And democracy is supposedly what we have... they don't know what republicanism is) In other words... that might be bad for the Dems, except the school system, of course, teaches that democracy is the only good thing, it's what we have, etc.. I remember my 11th grade teacher having to explain... yup... that the name "Democratic" doesn't mean the Republicans don't support democracy... "it's just a name".

Ohh yea? Well, how about libertarianism? Alot better than republicanism

My dad used to accuse me of being a Democrat when he was mad. In fact, it was a good way to measure his anger. He considered it to be the ultimate insult, and if he said it, it was time for me to go hang out with mom!

My entire family are democrats. I rememberasking my uncle his political beliefs when I was a child, he told me, "liberal."

 

[amy31416]

Independent is much better. That way you don't get suckered in when parties go astray. Most people that identify with a party will change their principles to whatever the party proclaims for the day.

That was my rationale in choosing that party, or whatever you want to call it.

 

[JosephTheLibertarian]

That was my rationale in choosing that party, or whatever you want to call it.

You should join the LP. Being an independent just means you're up for grabs.

 

[LibertyEagle]

You should join the LP. Being an independent just means you're up for grabs.

Hardly. It means, at least for me, that I will vote for the best person, regardless of party. Political party loyalty is for the birds and is a large reason we're in the mess we're in.

 

[acptulsa]

Being an independent just means you're up for grabs.

Joe's dreaming again.

I would have been registered a Libertarian until this year but this state doesn't allow anyone to register as anything but an R or a D. But at least we got them to start putting IND on the voter registration instead of the old IND/COMMUNIST.

They pissed off a lot of Libertarians with that crap. Like, all of us.

 

[JosephTheLibertarian]

Hardly. It means, at least for me, that I will vote for the best person, regardless of party. Political party loyalty is for the birds and is a large reason we're in the mess we're in.

Dear, has the LP ever nominated a candidate you could just not vote for? If not, then it's kind of hard to say the LP is not a good party for you, no? I don't think anyone should be loyal to any party 100%, but I think it's good to support the parties that are actually fighting for the same things you want.

Joe's dreaming again.

I would have been registered a Libertarian until this year but this state doesn't allow anyone to register as anything but an R or a D. But at least we got them to start putting IND on the voter registration instead of the old IND/COMMUNIST.

They pissed off a lot of Libertarians with that crap. Like, all of us.

ok? I was talking about becoming a paid member of the LP

 

[amy31416]

Hardly. It means, at least for me, that I will vote for the best person, regardless of party. Political party loyalty is for the birds and is a large reason we're in the mess we're in.

What she said.

While I might participate in Libertarian politics because it most closely matches my beliefs, any politician, no matter what party, has to earn my vote, they should never assume it. And that's why I will probably quietly go back to the Independent party. I just wish we didn't have to declare a party in PA in order to vote in primaries.

 

[JosephTheLibertarian]

What she said.

While I might participate in Libertarian politics because it most closely matches my beliefs, any politician, no matter what party, has to earn my vote, they should never assume it. And that's why I will probably quietly go back to the Independent party. I just wish we didn't have to declare a party in PA in order to vote in primaries.

Independent Party? If you're a member of the AIP, then dear, you ARE in a political party lol. The LP has a platform that stands for what you want, why should we just not bother with them? That's abandonment of principles imo.