Which animal would you choose to replace the donkey as the symbol of our party?

[Bicoastal]

There's nothing terribly political about this post, I just wonder sometimes how we got stuck with the donkey--a mean, noisy, smelly animal even on a good day--while the GOP got the elephant. And let's face it, elephants are majestic and impressive, even if they do represent Republicans.

So what animal would replace it? I know that many DU'ers would sentimentally pick the cat, or as The Lounge refers to them "teh kitteh!" Cats are ALMOST perfect, except for one thing--it would be so easy for the opposition to refer to us as FAT cats every step of the way.

So cats are out. Sharks? Too mean. Dogs? Too dumb. Monkeys? Too controversial. And besides, none of these seem to encapsulate the Democratic party as we know it today...

I'll throw it out to DU--which animal would you want representing the political party that gave this site its name? Or, are you perfectly happy with the donkey?

[Democrat_in_Houston]

1. The eagle

A patriotic symbol. We can be just as patriotic - and usually more patriotic - than the repubs. Besides, it would infuriate them! :rofl:

[Bicoastal]

2. I thought of that--but if Stephen Colbert has taught me nothing...

...it's that overuse of eagle imagery becomes patently ridiculous at a certain point.

[Democrat_in_Houston]

30. Still worth infuriating some freepers, though. :)

[FarCenter]

39. Ben Franklin wanted the turkey, not the eagle, as the national bird

Good choice.

[Taverner]

89. I second that

The Bald Eagle no less!

[Ter]

99. Already taken by the Constitution Party

http://www.constitutionparty.com/

[elizfeelinggreat]

3. Tiger

Didn't we start out with the tiger?

An elephant has no business calling a cat 'fat' and that is easily countered - if they want to argue with something that simple then a picture is worth a thousand words!

[JHB]

84. I'm guessing you've never heard of the "Tammany Tiger"?...

...used by political cartoonists to represent NYC's Tammany Hall political machine of the 19th and early 20th centuries.

It's the very symbol of thieving, insider-dealing, corrupt machine politics.

NOT exactly the image you're shooting for, right?

[pipi_k]

4. Well, an elephant isn't all that great, either....

They can sometimes be mean and destructive...go on rampages for no apparent reason.

And the shit piles they leave behind are huge, stinky, messy, and hard to get rid of.


just saying...

:7

[hunter]

104. If I was an elephant I'd go on a rampage against the Republicans.

The stupidity and venality of Republicans makes the red white and blue symbol of the Republican Party a grave insult to elephants.

A steaming elephant turd would be a great symbol, however...

[Myrina]

5. Chicken

... or Ostrich, with its head in a hole in the ground.

[DainBramaged]

6. Goose, we're always cooked

[Hepburn]

7. Bet you would never guess which one I choose, right?

:hi:

[redwitch]

11. I love scotties too.

My neighbor has a little guy named Dashiel. He is wonderful!

[asdjrocky]

47. Yeah.

Those guys have some attitude don't they?

[no limit]

8. They might as well change it to a baby elephant at this point.

[Xenotime]

34. Ha! That's all they do is cry.

[peekaloo]

9. Platypus!

'cause they're hard to find in the U.S.

[SoCalDem]

10. Punxsutawney Phil might do it..

Our leaders seem quite worried about their own shadows, and love to retreat to the hidey-holes when tough votes are called for..

[Common Sense Party]

22. Dead possum

according to Jon Stewart

[MuseRider]

37. My first thought as well. n/t

[Xithras]

12. The slug...

Slow and spineless.

[Maru Kitteh]

58. Blind, highly perishable, easily destroyed. Yeah, it fits.

[Arugula Latte]

78. Definitely a slug.

[hobbit709]

13. One of the invertebrates

[FSogol]

17. +1 n/t

[ChiciB1]

24. Veerrry Goooood!! n/t

[L. Coyote]

14. What would you choose to replace the elephant as the symbol of that other party? Plumbers??

is a more interesting question. How about plumbers? :rofl: Or cable persons?

Amateur plumbers :rofl: and cable persons!! :rofl:

[surrealAmerican]

31. For the republicans, it's got to be ...

... the bull.

[L. Coyote]

94. any steaming heap of unidentified dung

:rofl:

[muffin1]

77. Hockey moms

or pigs with lipstick.:D

[jmowreader]

98. There are several choices

The hagfish--only animal that has a skull but no vertebral column. Covered in slime. Eyes don't work. Has one testicle. Eats by chewing a hole in the side of its prey, crawling in and devouring the poor beast from the inside.

The jackal.

The hyena.

The crocodile--all mouth, no ears, stopped evolving 200 million years ago. Reputed to enjoy living in New York City sewers.

[Ian David]

15. The Meerkat.

[kentuck]

16. In the 1950's...

The Rooster was the symbol for the Democratic Party and the Log Cabin was the symbol for the Republican Party. I have no idea when that changed or why??

[verges]

73. The Donkey and Elephant

were originated by cartoonist Thomas Nast in the 1800s.

[Rowdyboy]

18. Considering the behavior of senate Democrats, the ostrich....

head firmly planted underground

[mochajava666]

19. The opossum

Because rolling over and playing dead seems to be our only move when confronted.

[Bonhomme Richard]

38. Exactly what I thought. n/t

[KamaAina]

85. Didn't Colbert have that just the other night?

Or was it Stewart?

[mochajava666]

87. I guess it was Jon Stewart

from what I see on a post in this thread. I TIVO his shows, but I haven't seen that one yet.

Before I thought of opossum, I thought of a gelding. I guess you can have gelded donkeys as well as horses.

[madokie]

20. The donkey is fine with me

Everyone likes a little ass every once in a while anyway and trust me when I say this I can be a real ass sometimes :-)

So it's donkey for me

[surrealAmerican]

35. ... also, donkeys are solid, dependable working-class animals.

It may not have started as a compliment, but it suits the democrats fairly well.

[TxRider]

46. Donkeys are also one of the most mean and ferociuos herd protectors

Better than a dog or almost any other animal at protecting herds.

http://horses.suite101.com/article.cfm/guard_donkeys_mules_protect_against_predators


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_BpI0yAVek

[havocmom]

57. Yep. Keep the donkey as our symbol & change the DINOs who roll over!

It ain't the symbol for the party that the party needs to replace ;)

[RoadRage]

21. An Owl... we're much wiser then the other side.

[ChickMagic]

23. I'm okay with the donkey

They are hard working, humble, sometimes stubborn and completley loveable. The elelphant, on the other hand, is slow and full of crap.

Here's the origin (although Nast made it popular):

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.

<snip>
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.

<snip>

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."

http://www.democrats.org/a/2005/06/history_of_the.php

[gmoney]

25. Those goats that faint at the slightest loud noise

[Shrek]

26. African poacher, I guess

I don't think the elephant has a natural predator.

[1awake]

27. The Wolverine!!!

That way I could scream GO WOLVERINES!!!! just like my favorite 80's B movies!

[Ferret Annica]

72. They are also called gluttons and stink bears

And what they can't eat when they steal a cache of human food they shit and piss on.

Don't get me wrong, I love mustelids or I wouldn't put up with my local nickname 'Ferret Mike.'

But I don't know about such a temperamental and ornery creature as a mascot.

[brewens]

28. Jellyfish at the moment, but I'm hoping that will change. n/t

[Fumesucker]

29. Jellyfish..

Because they are spineless and mostly drift with the current.

[ThomWV]

59. +1

My first choice too.

[Cirque du So-What]

32. Without a more compelling reason, I'm not willing to discard the donkey

Smelly? I've been downwind from construction workers who were more odiferous!

I concede that donkeys are more stubborn than horses, but that's an endearing quality to me. Otherwise faithful and loyal, the donkey is intelligent enough to balk at dangerous tasks instead of staying the course like a mindless automaton.

Merely with its presence, a single donkey can calm down an entire herd of horses. That's not a characteristic of an unruly, cantankerous, noisy animal.

[Democrat_in_Houston]

33. How 'bout a bunch of chickens?

[Canuckistanian]

56. Boneless chickens

[EFerrari]

81. LOL

[tom_paine]

36. This is a sad exercise. But I think our symbol should be an animal at all.

It should be whatever symbol the 1933 German Social Democrats used for THEIR party.

Because we are them and they are us, plain and simple.

[marmar]

40. I don't like the fact that Repugs got the elephant.....

Elephants are highly intelligent, live in socialist societies where females are prominent, take care of the children after they've left the womb, and are vegetarians.

How much more un-Republican can you get?

[hlthe2b]

55. I agree... the only thing they have in common with RETHUGS

is their memory--they never forget. And certainly, RETHUGS never forget any real or purported "trespass" against them. On the other hand, their memory is created to fit their propaganda aims, so maybe they ave NOTHING in common with elephants, after all.

I adore and admire elephants... They are more human-like in their social networks than most can imagine.

[CherokeeDem]

61. The Hypocrisy of the Republican Party...

extends to its symbol...they are nothing like the elephants. I have always hated that they use these intelligent creatures to represent them; not fair to the elephants.

[Orsino]

41. That creature from Greek legend with the head of a donkey, the ass of an elephant...

...and the body of a weasel x(

I'm sorry that it's come to this.

But for as long as we retain our ideals, I'm happy with the donkey.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

42. My ideal for the Democratic Party is the dolphin, but they are more like parasites now.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

43. Pony?

[FirstLight]

44. ....IF the change in animal meant a change in attitude....

I'd say a Badger! (or the Tazmanian devil, lol)

Let's get vicious and tear into the work that needs to be done...no backing down no taking the nice way out, no playing by their rules asnymore! Nothing but a whirlwind of ACTION and in the wake, the opponents are shredded and the real work has been DONE.

wanna talk shit?..... we'll mess you up!

ya, if only the Dems could grow some cojones, right?

[LWolf]

45. A symbol that actually represents the party,

or a symbol that represents the Democratic Party as it could, and should, be?

Option 1: A sheep. Timid, vulnerable followers.



Option 2: A buffalo. An AMERICAN symbol of both individual and group strength.




Or, a wolf.

[MindPilot]

48. Bugs Bunny

Shoulda taken that left turn...

[Democrat_in_Houston]

51. LOL

[RevCheesehead]

52. THAT'S brilliant!

:rofl:

[the other one]

49. Chambered Nautilus or Unicorn

A living expression of logic and mathimatical precision or a fantasy. Whichever seems closer to you.

[RevCheesehead]

50. A feral cat.

Out there on our own, trying to survive, and scared to fucking death of people.

[Jennicut]

53. My cat but she is too feisty for the Dems right now.

Maybe some day...

[MadBadger]

54. The Pussy

Cat

[Echo In Light]

71. +1

[QC]

60. A terrified little kitten. n/t

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

62. A toothless lapdog.

[Love Bug]

63. A turtle

I choose a turtle because that's what happens to our Dem's "manly bits" whenever a Repug looks at them crosswise.

[lumberjack_jeff]

64. Wiley Coyote

Rahm Emmanuel was shipped to the White House in a crate labeled "Acme political success machine".

[Ioo]

65. mule - ball-less and does not do what it should

[slackmaster]

66. The noble Banana Slug

If it's good enough to be the mascot of UC Santa Cruz, it's good enough for the Democratic Party.

[rd_kent]

67. A LIGER!

It's like a lion and a tiger mixed... bred for its skills in magic.

[Ganja Ninja]

68. A headless chicken.

[begin_within]

69. "a mean, noisy, smelly animal even on a good day" ?

You should watch this film: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060138/

[salguine]

70. Something that rolls over all the time.

[a la izquierda]

74. donkeys are great...

they bust their behinds, day after day, for their owners (well, at least in Mexico they do). i was in this little town where cars are more of a hindrance than help, and everybody had donkeys. one guy loaded his up and then went into his house and left the donkey there with water and a feed bag. when i returned about two hours later, the donkey was just relaxing in the shade, eating his food.
another time, i was the unfortunate witness to a baby donkey getting hit by a car; the mama sat there and cried the most terrible cry, and all her donkey friends crowded around her, almost comforting her. it was the saddest thing (oh, and i swear that's a true story).

[madville]

75. DINO from the flintstones would be perfect

[QC]

76. A fainting goat.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=we9_CdNPuJg

[chatnoir]

86. Ha! This I like

:thumbsup:

[QC]

91. Thanks! n/t

[kiranon]

79. Call the donkey a "burro" and let it be. They are smart and persistent.

The donkey is ok for me.

[Union Yes]

80. A Chicken. But I want them to be a ornery stampeding Rhino! nt

[Gman2]

82. a RINO

[TransitJohn]

83. Ostrich

[rcrush]

88. A dog that eats its own poop.

[Flaneur]

90. Thanks, everybody! Most laugh inducing thread in weeks.

[stranger81]

92. A deer in the headlights jumps immediately to mind. [n/t]

[defendandprotect]

93. Groundhog (Day) --

Learn from history -- when we vote and when we act!

[Cleita]

95. How about a dove, the symbol of peace?

My late husband, who was Irish, had doves on his family coat of arms because his name meant peace in Gaelic.

[Kitty Herder]

96. The DINO

[1]

97. a fawn... that straps on a machine gun, spreads her wings and flies!

The forest will run red with the blood of woodland creatures!

[L0oniX]

100. Is there an animal that doesn't have a spine?

[SemiCharmedQuark]

102. Around 95% of them.

[RedCloud]

101. The Lion! They can mate 140 times a day if need be!

Just ask the repugs how it felt to see so many of their own get fucked today!

[kwassa]

103. The jackalope

An American Original