Why is the Democrats political symbol a Donkey?
492699
They feel that calling it an ass would upset their supporters.
836507
According to the Democrat party someone called Johnson a Jackass, and he adopted the donkey (actually a Jackass) as his symbol. It stuck.
1130350
Really? This is what you ask? You must be trying to find something to pin on a Democrat. Must be tough to be a Neo Con(vict) these days.
570084
no  ,the animals have no say in the process ,so its a crime to abuse a dumb animal,, when the donkey speaks in court ,,there may be inter- species dating ,
972200
Historically Democrats are for increasing the size of government, increasing the amount of freebies and benefits given to those that choose to be undereducated and underemployed, and increasing their own salaries and benefits.\n\nAs good ole Georgie has seen the government rise to its largest size ever, and the economy is tanking, no matter who gets elected taxes will have to be raised.\n\nEveryone get ready for the finger pointing that will occur while we are starving in our next big recession.  It's coming.\n\nAnd I do agree with you, I'm a moderate too, it's a shame the rest of the nation insists on Red or Blue.
837405
Democrats and originality don't mix well.
904846
Because democrats are smarter and care about the enviroment. Lets just say, we have a little more brain cells.
933125
Cause democrats are GAY!
1121449
Liberals and Democrats true colors are easily seen through  fascist like yourself...  You'll call anybody with an opinion different than yours a "Puke" and brag about how many times you've insulted people with Yellow Ribbons on their vehicles.  Yet, if somebody were to raise their voice while expressing 1st Amendment right you scream to the ACLU...  \n\nYour party will continue to lose with this platform...  Guess the crow has been eaten by the Dem's and Liberals like yourself in the last two elections....
834374
Kerry perfectely matches the symbol of the Democratic party, a total jackass.
1130347
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.\n\n \n\nThe 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 Ass".
149727
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.\n\nThe 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 Ass."\n\nInterestingly 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.\n\nLater, 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.\n\nBy 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.\n\nOver 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, they 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.\n\nThe 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.
623652
Democrats want to take religion(specifically Christianity) out of the public arena.  They want to bring their version of morality like gay/lesbian marriage, abortion on demand, & every moral issue that goes against Almighty God's word.  They want a government that is more in line with the old Soviet Union where the government controls everything!
2605
The donkey. The Democratic Party was first pictured as a donkey by the political cartoonist Thomas Nast.
1129199
Little tigers.. no.. because they are sweet. But any idiot can be made to become a democrat
921161
I am a Democrat.\n\nIn 1998, I ran for public office in my town - and won. \n\nWhile campaigning, I never hesitated to display my party logo on my left lapel under the American flag. On all my signs and literature, the word DEMOCRAT was prominently placed for ALL to see.\n\nI challenge anyone who is running for public office to do the same. If a candidate is reluctant to display which party they are aligned to, then I say DON'T VOTE FOR THEM. That is the voter's first sign of a HIDDEN AGENDA.
809583
The images were created by newspaper cartoonists.   The parties did not select these symbols for themselves.\n\nThe newspapers selected these images for their negative qualities.   The parties have adopted the images for their positive traits.\n\nSo you can see in this example that the Press has a real impact on the political parties.\n\nThe elephants come from US Grant's era and is related to a bunch of slow moving circus elephants that escaped.\n\nMore interesting is the origin of the Uncle Sam character.