# Republicrat

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Portmanteau of American political parties

**Republicrat**,[1] or **Demopublican**,[2][3] also variously called **Repubocrat**,[1][4] **Demican**,[1] **Democan**,[1] and **Republocrat**,[1] are [portmanteau](/source/Blend_word) names for both of the two major [political parties in the United States](/source/Political_parties_in_the_United_States), the [Republican Party](/source/Republican_Party_(United_States)) and the [Democratic Party](/source/Democratic_Party_(United_States)), collectively. These derogatory names first appeared in the [1872 United States presidential election](/source/1872_United_States_presidential_election).[5]

The terms have multiple meanings. One use is to insult politicians that the speaker believes are too [politically moderate](/source/Politically_moderate) or [centrist](/source/Centrist). This use is similar to saying that a Republican is a "[Republican in Name Only](/source/Republican_in_Name_Only)" (RINO) or a Democrat is a "[Democrat in Name Only](/source/Democrat_in_Name_Only)" (DINO). Another use is to indicate that the two major parties are essentially interchangeable from the speaker's perspective because neither [major party](/source/Major_party) supports the changes that the speaker wants to see. This often carries an unspoken implication that the U.S. is in spirit a [dominant-party system](/source/Dominant-party_system). Similar terms have been adopted in other countries, including Australia, Canada, Poland, and the United Kingdom.

## Usage

### Insult towards moderates

Republicans have often portrayed themselves to be pro-business and aggressive on foreign policy; Democrats have tended to campaign on more liberal social policies and a more important role for government-funded social programs. *[Merriam-Webster Dictionary](/source/Merriam-Webster_Dictionary)* defines it as "a member of the Democratic party esp. in the [southern states](/source/Southern_United_States) who supports to a large extent the policy and measures of the Republican party".[6] *[Oxford Dictionaries](/source/Lexico)* defines the term as "[a] person whose political philosophy is a blend of policies and principles from both the Republican and Democratic parties".[7]

The term is sometimes used in a pejorative sense by members of one party to attack members of their party who are either centrist or who have what they perceive to be the wrong ideology. [Liberal](/source/Modern_liberalism_in_the_United_States) Democrats have disparaged conservative and centrist members of the party, such as Senator [Joe Lieberman](/source/Joe_Lieberman), as Republicrats. Likewise, Republican politicians, such as [George W. Bush](/source/George_W._Bush), [Mitt Romney](/source/Mitt_Romney), [Newt Gingrich](/source/Newt_Gingrich), and [Arnold Schwarzenegger](/source/Arnold_Schwarzenegger), have been called "Republicrats" by [conservatives](/source/Conservatism_in_the_United_States) due to their liberal stances on various political issues. Another term used by liberal Democrats to describe conservative and centrist members of their party is "Democrat in Name Only" or "DINO"; a conservative Republican term for liberal and centrist Republicans is "[Republican in Name Only](/source/Republican_in_Name_Only)" or "RINO".

### Argument that Democrats and Republicans are interchangeable

The term can be used to put the words together in order to voice the opinion that the two mainstream American political parties are so ideologically similar as to be interchangeable. This usage often expresses the sentiment of ordinary citizens who see all politicians as serving the same special interests and make little distinction between the two parties. Earl Killian's U.S. political glossary defines the term as "a portmanteau of the words 'Republican' and 'Democrat' ... used to symbolize the one-party nature of U.S. politics, when it comes to issues on which the dominant parties of the [two-party system](/source/Two-party_system) agree ... . In this view ... Republicrats is then the name of the single U.S. political party, and the Republicans and Democrats are seen as factions of this [one-party system](/source/One-party_system), rather than as true independent parties."[8] An example of this view comes from [Noam Chomsky](/source/Noam_Chomsky), who said: "The United States effectively has a one-party system, the business party, with two factions, Republicans and Democrats."[9]

Some commentators, such as [right-wing](/source/Right-wing) talk radio host [Michael Savage](/source/Michael_Savage_(commentator)) and [left-wing](/source/Left-wing) activist [Ralph Nader](/source/Ralph_Nader), who have both used the terms, opined on how it is often hard to tell the parties apart, leading to the term's popularity. This was a view shared on the [American Left](/source/American_Left) by the [Green Party](/source/Green_Party_of_the_United_States) during the [2000 United States presidential election](/source/2000_United_States_presidential_election), for whom Nader ran, whose [bumper stickers](/source/Bumper_sticker) read "Bush and [Gore](/source/Al_Gore) make me want to Ralph". Former [Dead Kennedys](/source/Dead_Kennedys) vocalist and Green Party member [Jello Biafra](/source/Jello_Biafra) also used the term during interviews. In 2004, boxing promoter [Don King](/source/Don_King) told [Larry King](/source/Larry_King) he was a Republicrat. He defined it as being for "whoever's going to be doing something or the upward mobility of America, black and white alike".[10]

## Equivalent terms in other countries

An equivalent term used in the United Kingdom is "Lib–Lab–Con" or "LibLabCon", a pejorative [portmanteau](/source/Portmanteau) referring to the three main political parties (the [Liberal Democrats](/source/Liberal_Democrats_(UK)), the [Labour Party](/source/Labour_Party_(UK)), and the [Conservative Party](/source/Conservative_Party_(UK))). The equivalent term used in Canada is "Lib–NDP–Con" or "LibNDPCon", a pejorative portmanteau referring to the three main political parties (the [Liberal Party](/source/Liberal_Party_(Canada)), the [New Democratic Party](/source/New_Democratic_Party), and the [Conservative Party](/source/Conservative_Party_(Canada))). Similarly, another equivalent term used in Australia is "Lib–Lab–Nat" or "LibLabNat", a pejorative portmanteau referring to the three main political parties (the [Liberal Party](/source/Liberal_Party_of_Australia), the [Labor Party](/source/Australian_Labor_Party), and the [National Party](/source/National_Party_of_Australia)). An equivalent term is also used in Poland, where it is called "[POPiS](/source/POPiS)", a pejorative portmanteau referring to the two main political parties (the [Civic Platform](/source/Civic_Platform) and [Law and Justice](/source/Law_and_Justice)). All three of these epithets suggest that there are no real differences between the three major parties in Australia, Canada, or the United Kingdom, each of which is effectively a single-party system.

## See also

- [Bipartisanship in US politics](/source/Bipartisanship_in_US_politics)

- [Boll weevil (politics)](/source/Boll_weevil_(politics))

- [Duverger's law](/source/Duverger's_law)

- [Problem Solvers Caucus](/source/Problem_Solvers_Caucus)

- [Rockefeller Republican](/source/Rockefeller_Republican)

- [Southern Democrats](/source/Southern_Democrats)

- [Third party (United States)](/source/Third_party_(United_States))

- [Two-party system](/source/Two-party_system)

- [Uniparty](/source/Uniparty)

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-McFedries2004_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-McFedries2004_1-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-McFedries2004_1-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-McFedries2004_1-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-McFedries2004_1-4) McFedries, Paul (2004). "The art and science of politics". In McFedries, Paul (ed.). *Word spy: the word lover's guide to modern culture*. New York: Broadway Books. p. 362. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780767914666](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780767914666).{{[cite book](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Cite_book)}}: CS1 maint: postscript ([link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:CS1_maint:_postscript))

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Barrett2006b_2-0)** Barrett, Grant (2006). "Demopublican". [*The Oxford Dictionary of American Political Slang*](https://archive.org/details/oxforddictionary0000unse_d4d1/page/91). Oxford University Press US. pp. [91](https://archive.org/details/oxforddictionary0000unse_d4d1/page/91). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780195304473](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780195304473).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Pound2005_3-0)** Pound, Louise (2007). "Illustrative lists of English blends". In Pound, Louise (ed.). *Blends — their relation to English word formation*. Read Books. p. 45. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9781406723595](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9781406723595).{{[cite book](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Cite_book)}}: CS1 maint: postscript ([link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:CS1_maint:_postscript))

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Barrett2006a_4-0)** Barrett, Grant (2006). "Repubocrat". [*The Oxford Dictionary of American Political Slang*](https://archive.org/details/oxforddictionary0000unse_d4d1/page/224). Oxford University Press US. pp. [224](https://archive.org/details/oxforddictionary0000unse_d4d1/page/224). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780195304473](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780195304473).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Mendelberg2001_5-0)** Mendelberg, Tali (2001). "The norm of racial inequality, electoral strategy, and explicit appeals". In Mendelberg, Tali (ed.). *[The race card: campaign strategy, implicit messages, and the norm of equality](/source/The_Race_Card%3A_Campaign_Strategy%2C_Implicit_Messages%2C_and_the_Norm_of_Equality)*. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. p. 53. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780691070711](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780691070711)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** ["Republocrat (definition)"](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/republocrat). Merriam Webster.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** ["Republicrat (definition)"](https://web.archive.org/web/20120720074313/http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/Republicrat). Oxford Dictionaries. Archived from [the original](http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/Republicrat) on July 20, 2012.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** ["Republicrat (definition)"](http://www.killian.com/earl/glossary.html#republicrat). Killian.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** [Chomsky, Noam](/source/Noam_Chomsky) (October 10, 2008). ["Anti-Democratic Nature of US Capitalism Is Being Exposed"](https://www.commondreams.org/views/2008/10/10/anti-democratic-nature-us-capitalism-being-exposed). *[Common Dreams](/source/Common_Dreams)*. Retrieved October 18, 2024.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** ["Don King interview with Larry King"](https://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/08/31/5.questions.king/index.html). CNN. August 31, 2004. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20120311121846/http://articles.cnn.com/2004-08-31/politics/5.questions.king_1_cnn-ups-and-downs-rnc?_s=PM%3AALLPOLITICS) from the original on March 11, 2012.

## External links

- The dictionary definition of [*Republicrat*](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Republicrat) at Wiktionary

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Republicrat](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republicrat) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republicrat?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.