Have you ever heard **anyone** in the media refer to Idiot Son as "George"? Or St Ronnie as "Ron" or

[Stinky The Clown]

.... "Ronnie"? Or Poppy as "George"? Or Ford as "Jerry"? Or Nixon as "Dick" or even "Richard"?

No last names ..... just first names ..... ?

So why is it accepted with "Bill"?

Or "Jimmy"?

Or "Barack"?

I used to get pissed at "Hillary" until she made it her brand.

But the rest? I see it as monumentally disrespectful, no matter what one thinks of the person. These are once and future US Presidents.

Oh yeah ...... they're not the "grownup" Republicans. :eyes:

Sometimes, maybe, little shit matters.

[LisaM]

1. People called Theodore Roosevelt "Teddy"

I think it just depends on the person. Everyone calls Teddy Kennedy that, too, and they called Bobby Kennedy "Bobby".

Some just get initials - FDR.

[Stinky The Clown]

2. You underscore my point .... all the Dems get called by first names

The repubs command greater deference.

Why?

[123infinity]

3. They're anal retentive.

:evilgrin:

[mnhtnbb]

4. Teddy Roosevelt was a Republican. But many Republicans thought he'd turned against them.

[Stinky The Clown]

7. Yanno ......

.... I do know that!

My ass got ahead of my feet in reading the post too quickly.

Slap me slap slap me! :blush:

[LisaM]

8. Teddy Roosevelt was not a Democrat

But it may also be that Democrats are more of the people.

[zbdent]

5. I remember the shi*storm which hit when a reporter said

"Mr. Bush" ...

[drmeow]

6. A different way of looking at it

is that is implies a greater connection to the people. In a way it humanizes the politicians. Clinton may not listen to the people but Bill just might. I think it reflects a different kind of connection with those politicians.

Do they call Joe Biden "Joe," Barbara Boxer "Barb," Patrick Leahy "Pat"? How much of a role do the individual politicians play in this? Do they invite people calling them by their first name? My guess is Dems tend to be more informal.

Arpaio in AZ is called "Sheriff Joe" - of course that does include his title but the people who call him that treat it like he's one of them, on their side, their buddy.

While some talking heads may do it to infantilize the person, the attempt can backfire on them for these reasons.