Why is the symbol of the Democratic Party a donkey?

Question

Don't democrats find it embarrasing to be portrayed as asses?

I had already looked this up in Wikipedia, but thanks for that BigSexy.

Whatever the origins, it didn't and doesn't have to be retained. Why haven't the democrats chosen another, less demeaning symbol?

I like Joe D's answer. Thanks for that link

Answer 1

History of the Democratic Donkey
When Andrew Jackson ran for president in 1828, his opponents tried to label him a "jackass" for his populist views and his slogan, "Let the people rule." Jackson, however, picked up on their name calling and turned it to his own advantage by using the donkey on his campaign posters. During his presidency, the donkey was used to represent Jackson's stubbornness when he vetoed re-chartering the National Bank.

The first time the donkey was used in a political cartoon to represent the Democratic party, it was again in conjunction with Jackson. Although in 1837 Jackson was retired, he still thought of himself as the Party's leader and was shown trying to get the donkey to go where he wanted it to go. The cartoon was titled "A Modern Baalim and his ***."

Interestingly enough, the person credited with getting the donkey widely accepted as the Democratic party's symbol probably had no knowledge of the prior associations. Thomas Nast, a famous political cartoonist, came to the United States with his parents in 1840 when he was six. He first used the donkey in an 1870 Harper's weekly cartoon to represent the "Copperhead
Press" kicking a dead lion, symbolizing Lincoln's Secretary of War, Edwin M. Stanton, who had recently died. Nast intended the donkey to represent an anti-war faction with whom he disagreed, but the symbol caught the public's fancy and the cartoonist continued using it to indicate some Democratic editors and newspapers.

Later, Nast used the donkey to portray what he called "Caesarism" showing the alleged Democratic uneasiness over a possible third term for Ulysses S. Grant. In conjunction with this issue, Nast helped associate the elephant with the Republican party. Although the elephant had been connected with the Republican party in cartoons that appeared in 1860 and 1872, it was Nast's cartoon in 1874 published by Harper's Weekly that made the pachyderm stick as the Republican's symbol. A cartoon titled "The Third Term Panic," showed animals representing various issues running away from a donkey wearing a lion's skin tagged "Caesarism." The elephant labeled " The Republican Vote," was about to run into a pit containing inflation, chaos, repudiation, etc.

By 1880 the donkey was well established as a mascot for the Democratic Party. A cartoon about the Garfield-Hancock campaign in the New York Daily Graphic showed the Democratic candidate mounted on a donkey, leading a procession of crusaders.

Over the years, the donkey and the elephant have become the accepted symbols of the Democratic and Republican parties. Although the Democrats have never officially adopted the donkey as a party symbol, we have used various donkey designs on publications over the years. The Republicans have actually adopted the elephant as their official symbol and use their design widely.

The Democrats think of the elephant as bungling, stupid, pompous and conservative -- but the Republicans think it is dignified, strong and intelligent. On the other hand, the Republicans regard the donkey as stubborn, silly and ridiculous -- but the Democrats claim it is humble, homely, smart, courageous and loveable.

Adlai Stevenson provided one of the most clever descriptions of the Republican's symbol when he said, "The elephant has a thick skin, a head full of ivory, and as everyone who has seen a circus parade knows, proceeds best by grasping the tail of its predecessor."

Answer 2

The most common symbol for the party is the donkey, although the party itself never officially adopted it. The origins of this symbol are unknown, but several theories have been proposed. According to one theory, in its original form, the jackass was born in the intense mudslinging that occurred during the presidential race of 1828 as a play on the name of Andrew Jackson, the Democratic candidate. Jackson had been called "Andrew Jackass," and the defiant Jackson adopted the nickname.

On January 19, 1870, a political cartoon by Thomas Nast in Harper's Weekly titled "A Live Jackass Kicking a Dead Lion" revived the donkey as a symbol for the Democratic Party (the symbol had also been used in the 1830s). Cartoonists followed Nast and used the donkey to represent the Democrats, and the elephant to represent the Republicans.

Answer 3

it is unknown the place the Democrats have been given the donkey image, some say it got here from insults for the time of an election some years in the past. The Republicans have been given their elephant image from a political caricature with the aid of Thomas Nast, printed in Harper's Weekly on 7 November 1874. They desperate to apply it as a mascot. Their mascots do not signify their events believes or practices.

Answer 4

When Andrew Jackson ran for president in 1828, his opponents tried to label him a "jackass" for his populist views and his slogan, "Let the people rule." Jackson, however, picked up on their name calling and turned it to his own advantage by using the donkey on his campaign posters. During his presidency, the donkey was used to represent Jackson's stubbornness when he vetoed re-chartering the National Bank.


The first time the donkey was used in a political cartoon to represent the Democratic party, it was again in conjunction with Jackson. Although in 1837 Jackson was retired, he still thought of himself as the Party's leader and was shown trying to get the donkey to go where he wanted it to go. The cartoon was titled "A Modern Baalim and his ***."

By 1880 the donkey was well established as a mascot for the Democratic party. A cartoon about the Garfield-Hancock campaign in the New York Daily Graphic showed the Democratic candidate mounted on a donkey, leading a procession of crusaders.

The Democrats think of the elephant as bungling, stupid, pompous and conservative -- but the Republicans think it is dignified, strong and intelligent. On the other hand, the Republicans regard the donkey as stubborn, silly and ridiculous -- but the Democrats claim it is humble, homely, smart, courageous and loveable.

Answer 5

It is an appropiate symbol because when men committed bestiality their favorite was the DONKEY!

It was the right height for a standing quickie, they kneel for no one!
Its a** was the right diameter (if male)
Its vagina was the right diameter (if female).

So you can see that this party just screws Americans whenever they can.

Look:
Carter (anti-semite peanut farmer, 9/11 enabler)
Clinton (sold military secrets to get elected, ******** by fat
chick, and many, many more very nasty stuff.
Kerry (long faced liar, Vietnam traitor)
Kennedy (responsible for the unforgiveable alien immigration)
Pelosi (female tyrant with inferiority complex.)

And many, many, more. Possibly the entire party with the exception of NO ONE!

Answer 6

Embarrassing? Donkeys are symbols of sturdiness and peace. Jesus rode a donkey, in case you forgot. Farms around the nation need the reliable donkey to operate.

Answer 7

Maybe because the donkey faster than the elephant.

Answer 8

At least they got something right! Have you noticed they haven't caught on and changed their symbol yet?

Answer 9

Because the Scottish already had the sheep.

Answer 10

A donkey is a stubborn jackass that will only progress for it's own reasons - - not it's owner's.