E Pluribus Unum

Mark ponders calling the GOP the Republic party:

Maybe if we use the truncation, they'll stop calling it the "Democrat" party.

The term is commonly used in the UK to describe the manager of a public house, i.e., bars and taverns. And in fact, there is already Publican Party in Scotland -- formed to fight the blanket ban on smoking in public.

Nah. Too narrow. Although the connection to cigar chompers like Schwarzenegger and Giuliani is apt.

In ancient Rome, publicans served as tax collectors for the Republic (and later the Empire).

Tax collectors? Nah. Too easy for them to refute.

In the New Testament, Jesus tells The Parable of the Pharisee and the Publican. In it, a Pharisee, grateful for his own virtue, is judged lower than a tax collector ("publican") who is ashamed of his own sin. The lesson teaches the value of displaying humility by seeking forgiveness for one's sins over displaying pride at one's own self righteousness.

Humility? You're kidding, right?

By the time of the Renaissance, the word "publican" meant a tavernkeeper (see above), and by extension a slang term for a pimp.

Bingo -- perfect.