Instead of that Donkey, Can We Try a Gazelle?

As a third grader, my high-school-age sister's courses always seemed more fascinating to me. When she showed me the political symbols of the donkey for Democrats and the elephant for Republicans, I was intrigued, but I don't remember at this point what she told me about them. With the election year upon us, I decided it was time to find out.

The donkey was actually chosen to represent the Democratic party in 1828 during the presidential campaign of Andrew Jackson. He was a popular war hero after winning battles in the War of 1812 and his campaign slogan was "Let the People Rule." Rivals called him a "jackass" and later used the donkey/jackass symbol to compare Jackson to a “stubborn ass.” Jackson didn't care and in fact, he ended up using the donkey as a campaign symbol.

The donkey-elephant symbolism solidified through the work of Harper’s Weekly cartoonist Thomas Nast. He used the donkey in 1870 to represent a group of antiwar Americans – and then used an elephant in a cartoon to tell Republicans that infighting would damage their election chances.

In November, 1874, he created a cartoon called Third Term Panic that cemented the symbols of the donkey and the elephant. During that year, Republican Ulysses S. Grant had already been president for two terms and was thinking of running again. 

In the cartoon, a donkey in a lion’s skin, called “Ceaserism” scares off other animals, including an elephant called “The Republican Vote.” From what I can tell, Nast was trying to make fun of the New York Herald, which was opposed to a third term for Grant.

Soon after Nast released his cartoon, other cartoonists started using elephants to symbolize Republicans, and still others used donkeys to symbolize Democrats. While comedians and cartoonists are still having fun with caricatures and elections, I don’t think anything has stuck nearly as well as the elephant and the donkey. I think the elephant is supposed to be a symbol of strength, and the donkey is still one of stubbornness.

I like that we have two symbols, but they seem so out of date to me now. I'm not sure what I'd choose for each side but I'd highly recommend animals that are more, I don't know, elastic? Jumpers, fliers, or animals that can rise out of the sea quickly and majestically. Gazelles come to mind, eagles, lions, foxes, maybe whales? I keep going back to the leapers, the gazelles and mountain goats. Because being nimble matters more now than being stubborn or physically strong - or it would, if I were in charge.

So if we did get rid of the donkey and elephant, what would you choose? Do you even agree we need  a new symbol animal for both parties? Can I really be the only one?

Gazelle photo: Ralf Steinberger