This seems like a serious risk, and I'd like to see how the "partisan idioms" were collected. "Illegal aliens" stood out to me as something I don't hear much f

This seems like a serious risk, and I'd like to see how the "partisan idioms" were collected. "Illegal aliens" stood out to me as something I don't hear much from either party - the fight today is generally over "illegal immigrants" versus "undocumented immigrants". That looks like an obvious candidate for a marginalized phrase distorting the analysis. "Death tax" is still around, but I think there's a euphemistic treadmill thing happening - plenty of people on the right will now say "estate tax" and expect it to be understood as a thing they're strongly opposed to. Finally, the example given seems to be about maturation rather than moderation. "Turbans and terrorists" is rather un-encylopedic, and it would be totally possible to strip it from an article even while preserving a strong conservative bent. I wouldn't be shocked if these results were right, but it also feels like a sociology paper I wouldn't want to trust without a secondary analysis.