Irene Chappell wrote in asking how each of the two major political parties came up with their mascots, the elephant and the donkey ?
I did a little on-line research and I also talked with TMCC political science professor Fred Lokken about this.
First the donkey. That came about in 1828 when democratic presidential candidate Andrew Jackson's opponents labeled him a --- well, not a donkey but something close.
Anyway, he liked the nickname and used it to his advantage, and the donkey and democrats have been linked ever since.
As for the elephant, Thomas Nast drew a political cartoon in 1874 showing a donkey in a lion costume chasing off a bunch of zoo animals. One of those animals was an elephant labeled "The Republican Vote" in the cartoon and the mascot stuck. Interesting that both were intended as insults originally and became popular ways to represent the parties.
