According to William Safire , Minnesota Governor Harold Stassen , campaign manager to Republican Wendell Willkie during the 1940 presidential campaign , explained that because the Democratic Party was at that time partly controlled by undemocratic city bosses , " by Hague in New Jersey , Pendergast in Missouri and Kelly-Nash in Chicago , it should not be called a ' Democratic Party . ' It should be called the ' Democrat Party . ' " Columnist Russell Baker wrote in 1976 : During the 1984 Republican National Convention , use of the term was a point of contention among the delegates . When a member of the Republican platform committee asked unanimous consent to change the phrasing of a platform amendment to read '' Democrat Party '' instead of '' Democratic Party '' , New York Representative Jack Kemp objected , saying that would be " an insult to our Democratic friends ; " the committee dropped the proposal
1984 Republican National Convention
1984 Republican National Convention
Democrat Party (epithet)