Why the Donkey and Elephant?

[Stunt]

Maybe it's cuz im Canadian, but i've always wondered why the party symbols are as they are...like what kind of party actually wants an a$$ as a symbol...anyways, i looked into it and here it is for those who were wondering.

Linky

The Democratic Donkey and the Republican Elephant

Many sports teams choose animals like bears and tigers for mascots. The animals stand for qualities like strength, speed, or fierceness. In a similar way, the American eagle stands for power and freedom.

America?s two major political parties have their own animal symbols. At first, they might seem like strange choices. The Republican symbol is an elephant. The Democratic symbol is a donkey.

How did these symbols come about? The Democratic donkey seems to have come first. When Democrat Andrew Jackson ran for president in 1828, his opponents tried to insult him by calling him a "jackass" (donkey). Jackson took the sting out of the insult by using the donkey on his own campaign posters. Later, the donkey came to stand for Jackson?s stubbornness as president.

But it wasn?t until 1870 that the donkey became an unofficial symbol of the Democratic Party. In that year, a cartoonist named Thomas Nast used a donkey to stand for some Democrats he disagreed with. The Democrats were criticizing former Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, who had recently died. Nast drew the Democrats as a donkey kicking a dead lion.

Like Andrew Jackson, Democrats refused to be insulted. Instead, they began using the donkey as a symbol of their party.

Nast poked fun at Republicans, too. In another cartoon, he showed the "Republican vote" as a frightened elephant running away from a donkey wearing a lion?s skin. This time it was Republicans who changed an insult into a symbol of their party.

So what do the donkey and the elephant symbolize today? That depends on who you ask. A Democrat might say that a donkey is humble, smart, and lovable. A Republican would say that a donkey is silly and stubborn.

As for the elephant, Republicans think it is dignified, strong, and intelligent. Democrats would say that elephants are dumb and slow to change.

Of course, these descriptions aren?t fair to the animals. Elephants may move slowly most of the time, but they aren?t dumb. Donkeys may be stubborn, but they?re only silly if you think they are. Sometimes symbols mean whatever we want them to mean!

 

[imported_Condor]

The donkey is sooooo obvious and elephants never forget eight years of Bill Clinton!

 

[outriding]

Originally posted by: Condor
The donkey is sooooo obvious and elephants never forget eight years of Bill Clinton!

You mean the elephant is scared of a mouse 🙂

 

[cKGunslinger]

Originally posted by: outriding

Originally posted by: Condor
The donkey is sooooo obvious and elephants never forget eight years of Bill Clinton!

You mean the elephant is scared of a mouse 🙂

That wasn't a mouse! 😛

 

[minendo]

Fatasses and jackasses. How can politics be any better represented?

 

[cKGunslinger]

Originally posted by: minendo
Fatasses and jackasses. How can politics be any better represented?

Giant Douches and Turd Sandwiches seem to be pretty accurate as well. Maybe it's time for an update? 😉