Party symbols: elephants vs donkeys? Please explain their origins and?

Try the Porcupine instead.

This is the symbol of Independents and Libertarians.

The Question:

What is the origin of the donkey & elephant as the symbols of the Democratic & Republican parties in America?
The Answer:

The Donkey— Presidential candidate Andrew Jackson was the first Democrat ever to be associated with the donkey symbol. His opponents during the election of 1828 tried to label him a ''jackass'' for his populist beliefs & slogan, ''Let the people rule.'' Jackson was entertained by the notion & ended up using it to his advantage on his campaign posters.

But cartoonist Thomas Nast is credited with making the donkey the recognized symbol of the Democratic Party. It first appeared in a cartoon in Harper is Weekly in 1870, & was supposed to represent an anti-Civil War faction. But the public was immediately taken by it & by 1880 it had already become the unofficial symbol of the party.

The Elephant— Political cartoonist Thomas Nast was also responsible for the Republican Party elephant. In a cartoon that appeared in Harper is Weekly in 1874, Nast drew a donkey clothed in lion is skin, scaring away all the animals at the zoo. One of those animals, the elephant, was labeled ''The Republican Vote.'' That is all it took for the elephant to become associated with the Republican Party.

See the official sites of the Republican National Committee & the Democratic National Committee for more information.

—The Editors