Even as he praised the bipartisanship of the Iraq Study Group report today, President Bush seemed to derisively refer to his opponents as the “Democrat Party” — here’s the CQ transcript:

The country, in my judgment, is tired of pure political bickering that happens in Washington. And they understand that on this important issue of war and peace it is best for our country to work together. And I understand how difficult that is, but this report will give us all an opportunity to find common ground for the good of the country — not for the good of the Republican Party or the Democrat Party but for the good of the country.

The official White House transcript uses “Democratic,” but that sounds wrong to me. (You can listen for yourself — go to 1:54 of this video clip.)

As Ruth Marcus recently argued in the Washington Post, President Bush repeatedly uses “Democrat party,” “Democrat leadership,” etc. rather than “Democratic,” which is of course the actual name of the party. As she wrote:

If he wanted to, President Bush could change the tone in Washington with a single syllable: He could just say “ic.” That is, he could stop referring to the opposition as the “Democrat Party” and call the other side, as it prefers, the Democratic Party.

Instead, however, he prefers to keep sticking his thumb in their eye. It tells you all you need to know about his commitment to bipartisanship.