# Why are there no staunch Democrats? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 9, 2011, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-staunch-democrats/595719 "2011-09-09T13:32:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![GreasyJack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df705f/32.png) [@GreasyJack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreasyJack)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2011, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-staunch-democrats/595719/21 "2011-09-09T18:53:10Z")
Maybe I’m also reading in my own political beliefs, but in my view anyways the Democratic Party is still more of an old-style “big tent” party. Practically every position the party has is opposed by some faction or other, so describing one’s political beliefs as “Democrat” (staunch or otherwise) doesn’t really tell you much. The Republicans have their factions too, but they’re much smaller and the doctrinal differences are much less. I think there is enough of a core platform there that is agreed on by a large enough portion of the party that saying you are a “Republican” (staunch or otherwise) does convey a basic outline of someone’s political beliefs. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2011, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-staunch-democrats/595719/22 "2011-09-09T19:33:05Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > Two different spellings of the same word with the same meaning according to Merriam Webster, with “stanch” preferred. Yes… as in it’s usually spelt stanch, like I said. 😕 And the adjective meaning is, these days, only used in very limited circumstances; I have actually seen it used with ‘supporter’ as well as Republican, but it’s not used as a free adjective, IYSWIM - you wouldn’t expect it see it with any old word. ---
**Author:** ![leahcim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b4bc9f/32.png) [@leahcim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leahcim)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2011, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-staunch-democrats/595719/23 "2011-09-10T01:15:21Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > Yup. ‘Staunch republican’ is a [strong collocation](http://mlag.basicor.hr/collocation.html). It doesn’t tell you that Democrats are less likely to be staunch, just that this phrase, ‘staunch Republican,’ doesn’t act like a normal adjective+noun noun phrase: the words are much more closely tied together. So the answer to the OP is really just that people are notoriously un-creative in their speech and writing and “staunch republican” just happened to be a phrase that stuck. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2011, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-staunch-democrats/595719/24 "2011-09-10T03:53:09Z")
As progressives we try to be more “with it” and “staunch” is too 1890. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2011, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-staunch-democrats/595719/25 "2011-09-10T04:00:29Z")
I consider myself a “staunch” Democrat, although I’m more left than the party is currently. Oh, and Taft was actually a Democrat. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2011, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-staunch-democrats/595719/26 "2011-09-10T10:09:55Z")
Moved thread to IMHO, since there really isn’t a GQ answer to this one. ---
**Author:** ![Alley\_Dweller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alley_dweller/32/430_2.png) [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2011, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-staunch-democrats/595719/27 "2011-09-10T11:00:45Z")
I hear the term “staunch Catholic” with some regularity. And despite being admonished not to do so, I googled the following phrases: staunch Catholic -\> 94,800 hits. staunch Baptist -\> 6,870 hits. staunch Methodist -\> 9,580 hits. staunch Jew -\> 1,210 hits. And, just for fun, a “staunch American” got 22,200 hits. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2011, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-staunch-democrats/595719/28 "2011-09-10T11:25:31Z")
> [@leahcim](#): > > Does anyone use the word “staunch” in any context other than describing how dedicated they are to a political party? I’ve heard people referred to as a “staunch defender of something-or-other” on occasion. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2011, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-staunch-democrats/595719/29 "2011-09-10T13:54:12Z")
I can’t imagine most Republicans ever voting for a Democrat. Have any of you? But I’ve voted for a Republican for the Senate at least twice. My Democrat mom voted for one Republican candidate for President – Nixon. (She never did it again.) I too think that Democrats tend to be a little more open to change and negotiation and therefore aren’t as “staunch.” But I don’t think that _all_ Republicans are staunch and _all_ Democrats willing to accomodate. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2011, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-staunch-democrats/595719/30 "2011-09-10T17:43:48Z")
> [@Zoe](#): > > I can’t imagine most Republicans ever voting for a Democrat. Have any of you? > > But I’ve voted for a Republican for the Senate at least twice. My Democrat mom voted for one Republican candidate for President – Nixon. (She never did it again.) There are straight party line voters in both parties. There are also people who take the time to consider legislation (and candidates) on a case-by-case basis. Look at Montana, where I live. It’s considered a “red” state, with both houses controlled by the Republicans; yet both of our U.S. Senators, our Governor, and our Secretary of State are Democrats. At least here, the Republicans are perfectly willing to elect a Democrat if they feel he (or she) is the better candidate for the job. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2011, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-staunch-democrats/595719/31 "2011-09-10T18:57:27Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > I consider myself a “staunch” Democrat, although I’m more left than the party is currently. > Oh, and Taft was actually a Democrat. Wm H. Taft? In what sense? As to the OP, it doesn’t sound like there are _no_ “staunch Democrats.” Chalk the difference up to slight subcultural differences or to a quirk of statistics? I don’t know if “staunch Republican” became a repeated phrase in its own right so much as “yellow dog Democrat” doesn’t have a GOP corollary. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2011, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-staunch-democrats/595719/32 "2011-09-10T19:20:16Z")
[quote=“Gary “Wombat” Robson, post:26, topic:595719”] Moved thread to IMHO, since there really isn’t a GQ answer to this one. [/QUOTE] Eh? There is - I already gave it. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2011, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-staunch-democrats/595719/33 "2011-09-10T20:01:24Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > Eh? There is - I already gave it. Oh, that was good information, **Sam** , but it doesn’t really answer why “staunch supporter” is very common (much more so than “staunch Republican”), but “staunch dissenter” isn’t – or why “staunch” would attach itself so much more to Republican than Democrat. You can’t get much more “staunch” than a Southern Democrat, right? At this point in the thread, it’s all speculation… ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2011, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-staunch-democrats/595719/34 "2011-09-10T23:30:37Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > I consider myself a “staunch” Democrat, although I’m more left than the party is currently. > Oh, and Taft was actually a Democrat. He was a Republican. But it might be a valid argument to say that the Republican Party stood considerably further to the left in those days than it does now. Or, at least we can say Taft himself took a left-leaning position on several issues, [albeit not with uniform success](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Howard_Taft#Domestic_policies). It’s not too surprising that, in later years as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Taft remarked that it was [almost as if he didn’t remember ever being President](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Howard_Taft#Nomination). ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2011, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-staunch-democrats/595719/35 "2011-09-11T00:10:43Z")
Huh. I could have sworn he was a Democrat. Oh well. Of course back then, the Dems were on the right, and the Repubs were on the left, to put it simply. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2011, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-staunch-democrats/595719/36 "2011-09-11T00:34:50Z")
> [@](#): > > Huh. I could have sworn he was a Democrat. Oh well. You might be remembering him running against Teddy Roosevelt, who served as President under the Republican label. But in the election where Taft and Roosevelt were running against each other, Roosevelt was running under the Progressive (AKA Bull Moose) party label. In practice, they ended up splitting the Republican vote (with Roosevelt actually getting a larger share of it), giving the election to the Democrat, Woodrow Wilson. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2011, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-staunch-democrats/595719/37 "2011-09-11T16:51:50Z")
Hedgehogs are staunch, but not foxes. “Staunch” implies loyalty to an organization more than to a cause. Since societal progress takes multiple directions, often even conflicting ones, a party that is essentially an alliance of progressives will have multiple agendas, often even conflicting. Loyalty in the context of such an alliance is therefore to the notion of the benefits of progress rather than to the alliance itself, which is essentially only a flag of convenience. But, to an adherent of an organization whose appeal is to those who oppose, or simply fear, societal change on the basis that their own position in it, or perhaps the quality of society overall, might somehow be diminished find their strength in the organization itself, which helps reinforce that view. There are no differing or competing visions that make it into a tactical alliance; it’s only about saying No and telling each other that’s good. ETA: I would say more that TR was running against Taft than vice versa. If the GOP used primaries then, there never would have been a Bull Moose Party, but that was how an incumbent was challenged by a disaffected fellow party member then. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2011, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-staunch-democrats/595719/38 "2011-09-12T01:08:00Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > But “lifelong Democrat” and “yellow dog Democrat” are more the phrases. Yellow dog meaning I’d rather vote for a yellow dog than a Republican. Wow, I really had the meaning of this one wrong. I thought they meant yellow=coward. What the heck am I confusing this with? > [@Zoe](#): > > I can’t imagine most Republicans ever voting for a Democrat. Have any of you? For president, no, never. For democrats running for governor and state reps, sure, a bunch of times. ---
**Author:** ![Agent\_Foxtrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc29f/32.png) [@Agent\_Foxtrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agent_Foxtrot)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2011, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-staunch-democrats/595719/39 "2011-09-12T15:54:27Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > IMHO, I think most democrats are democrats because it’s the lesser of two evils. They don’t feel enthusiastic, merely less repulsed. Of course, I might be projecting my own feelings there. This. I think most Democrats aren’t Democrats because they feel strongly about the Democratic issues, but because they’re not Republicans. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2011, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-staunch-democrats/595719/40 "2011-09-12T23:01:09Z")
Other than political references, “staunch” is used for loyalty to universities, such as a “staunch Boilermaker.” The counterpart to the “yellow dog Democrat” who would rather vote for a yellow dog than a Republican is the “Second Coming Republican,” who would vote against Jesus Christ Himself, if he came back and ran as a Democrat. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-staunch-democrats/595719.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-staunch-democrats/595719.md?page=3)