Should the donkey be retired?

From a 2004 marketing POV, the donkey is a very poorly chosen
symbol for a party that intends to win. It comes from an 1874
cartoon, back when people used to have farms and donkeys,
as it was a stubborn beast of burden.

In our modern age, logo's are symbolic, and perhaps a Bear,
and Eagle or a Lion might serve better.

it was based off of a political cartoon from like a thousand years ago. It's the symbol of the party whether we like it or not.

Personally, i would have prefered the elephant.

a donkey is a useful animal that helps you get things done...

who are smarter than dogs and almost as smart as dolphins

They are very caring and loving animals and are mysterious in many ways.

I think they're too beautiful to be the GOP symbol. They should have a snake or a slug or something.

The Republicans should be the Chimp party. Not only is their leader a dead-ringer for an ugly chimp, but their actions are remarkably chimp-like: instead of responding to stress with careful, reasoned deliberation, they bare their teeth and throw their shit on everything. Using a chimp has an extra side-benefit as well: the Republicans don't believe in Evolution, so likening them to chimps at every turn would drive them insane. (You know and I know that chimps are very intelligent--just shy of humans, shockingly;-)--but the Republicans don't believe that.) Maybe the Republicans will do what the Democrats did and embrace a negatively-intended symbol, and it will be harder for them to say chimps are too undignified to be our ancestors (hello Evolution!).

You're right; elephants are far to intelligent and noble to be representative of the Chimp Party.

If you want to message to voters a serious retrenchment intent on
winning, one of the best ways is to re-brand from old racist days.

A bear would eat an elephant, and is a natural animal from the american
wilderness.

I think a bear would serve the new party better, as one that defends
its young ferosciously, and is not to be screwed with.

A fair amount of political capital is lost on a bad brand, IMO.

The Bear was the symbol of Communism and Russia.

Was symbolized by the bear. You're on the right track, but maybe the bear is not such a good idea.

Ok, rattlesnake... someone just mentioned bobcat... yes.

Mountain lion?

They ran a campiagn without ANY substance whatsoever, just based on
attacks and fraud. They ran an "image" campaign, and we wanted to
talk about substance the whole time... and lost by it.

Perhaps revamping our "image" and "style" approach is exactly what
is in order.

You're exactly right, they ran a shallow campaign that ran on shallow policies, but it was glossed over with an image of "values" and "morality". Their image became their message. Didn't matter to you and I and millions of other people who knew better...3% more of them bought into it.

Our message has to become our image. A snappy new logo ain't changing that.

screams political success? :shrug:

I love elephants personally. They are cool animals, live long, and
are wise. Why must we have the shit animal between the two?

Honestly, if you had a choice to ride an elephant or a jackass,
which would you pick?

It gets to be really old, it never mates, and it takes a long time to clean up their shit after they are through

They're about as foreign as you can get.

It is imported as well. A mountain lion is native. A buffalo is
native.... what's wrong with a native species to make the very
contrast you mention.

it has a stronger appearance :D

attacking a snake.

Or something really disgustingly macho.

:shrug: Yes, it's being used by the gov't. OUR gov't. We need to emphasize the 'we' in "We the People."

repubs HOWLING with indignation LOL

Msongs
dean obama 2008
www.msongs.com/political-shirts.htm

LOL! :evilgrin:

We need to re-cast this party as lethal, native to north america,
and a fighter that defends its own.

That'll defuse the accusations of socialist/communist!

Proud, protective, can be drawn fiercely or friendly, works better as a costume than a donkey or an elephant, we could have a contest across the country to name him.

I agree that it is an excellent image.

It could be a way to positively re-engage the party in a move to
re-group and change... name that lion!

Southpaw.

Liberty

Mellivora capensis, a real fighter.



Oh, does it have to be an American species? I'll think of something else....

no wait, it's "Oscar".

That'll confuse the bastids! ;)

I like it. :-)

...with fake donkey ears.

But it appears that 4:1, most folks believe the status quo is the
way forward. I wonder how many seats have to be lost before people
will be willing to adopt the serious reform.

I think you need to lay off the crack pipe! :eyes:

I think that this thread demonstrates something. By a 4:1, margin,
DU posters think that the symbol is working fine. I suggest by
reflection, that those same folks, think the party machine is
working fine-enough, and that no major reforms are needed.

In a serious re-branding, we change management, strategy, platform
and organization. It does not mean firing people, but reorganizing.
Such a thing, combined with a snappy symbol, would be quite
a powerful statement.

Bottom line, i see the following things as jackass problems, using
the secondary definitions of jackass: the DLC's push to become more
republican, the failure to publically end any link with dixicrat
racism, and stand absolutely for minority equality, the failure to
realize that in our modern world, substance and symbols are combined.

We just lost an election where style and symbols were used to defeat
wisdom and goodwill (ours). Yet, the democratic marketeers are
pursuing an extinct donkey's ongoing strategy of not addressing
the style and symbols. So, in response to your serious reform
statement, i say that serious reform cannot be achieved without
changing root and branch the logo and the absolute defense of human
equality and social justice.

PS. I like a joint now and again, but i don't smoke crack.

We should adopt the symbol the repubs tried to use in their stupid ad. I at least want to create a sub-party with the wolf as its mascot!

Wolves are pack hunters that can take down large prey by working together, using strategy and teamwork instead of simply brute force. We can take the elephant down!

to extinction and have made quite a comeback. Plus they're intelligent, loyal to their mates and pack. And they run free!

Marketing this one could be a bit touchy with recovering-fundies.

As much as i love the magesty of wolves, they are indeed viewed with
fear by people who live near living ones, as indeed, they can kill
livestock and even a human, with their honed hunting skills... and
hence why they are mentioned in the bible as those arch-predators
who prey on the sheep flock.

After reviewing the thread, i'm inclined towards:

Mountain Lion, Eagle, Moose and Buffalo

All of them are native species to the America's. All of them have
so much more dignity than a jackass, and all of them are powerful
warrior creatures not to be screwed with.

What a powerful branding message it would be, to move on from the
19th century of the slavery party.

who cares? Keep the fucking donkey. I like it

Cougars are effective fighters native to North America. Donkeys come from the Middle East and elephants are native to Africa and South Asia.

Except, perhaps, the bucket.

Bobcat, wolf, whitetail deer, elk, moose...neither elephants nor donkeys are American. The symbols just don't make sense!

It worked for TransAir, didn't it?

I like the eagle best. I think the lion is good too.

Am I correct in my memory that the donkey is NOT an "official" symbol? I seem to remember reading that the GOP elephant is the only one of the two that is official.

Keep in mind, the untold story that the whole time this symbol was
innovated, that the party was the white racist party. I think
retiring the symbol is worth considering on that basis alone.

Without further adue, the leaders who've screwed up 3 elections
in a row, telling us how it is:

http://www.democrats.org/about/donkey.html

"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."

not an elephant. For whatever that's worth.


Edited to say I hope the newly elected acceptable-morals-religious review board doesn't put me in the town stocks for saying that. I usually say much worse things.

We could just simply tell the Fundy Christians that Mary went to Bethlehem on a donkey, not an elephant, or a hummer (Arnold Joke)

When i'm at the computer, but it hardly inspires me to use it as
a logo. ;-)

Davidic king-elects customarily rode into Jerusalem and to their subsequent coronation on a donkey.

Strength, and connotes economic prosperity.

I was just looking about at breeds, and perhaps a cross with a
buffalo and a brahma bull.... or a bull moose.

It seems that a good portion of internet photo's of bulls are from
rodeos, a nice wholesome american image, indeed.

They're the ultimate American symbol. Or maybe a bad-ass wild horse. Yeah, I know, horses aren't necessarily indigenous to America, but if you think about it, both horses and donkeys originated from the Equus species that lived on this continent before they were wiped out by humans. And so did mastodons, which were the ancestors of elephants.

Both could be thought of as American animals.

Then again, maybe we should keep the donkey. After all, when you want to talk about someone who doesn't take any shit from anybody, you don't say "bad-elephant."

You say "bad ass." :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick:

Couldn't help it LOL. But seriously. I like a bull, a very strong and powerful animal. Or a hawk, good vision, good predator.

it's native to North America, it's not wussy.

but for a different reason. It is easy to kill and its almost extinct. Just like Democrats.

JOKING!!!!! Please don't flame.

But seriously, if we change the moniker from the Donkey we just give them more ammo to paint us with "flip floppers" and "running from your past and the truth" and "you can change your stripes, but you can't change who you are".

What we need is a modern day Thomas Nast to give the Party a new symbol, then we can run with it.

I'm a little partial to the bison, I suppose, since I know people that raise them.

I definitely see your point on the flip-flopper thing. Yep, I can hear it now, Rush saying the same things you said above. Ugh!!

You think a jackass is bad, my country's national animal is the beaver. :P

But if you're going to change it, definitely consider the mountain lion or cougar.

In opposition to the elephant, it projects an image of speed, ferocity, poise and dexterity.

:)

;)

and that will fix it all.

;)

would be a completely transparent attempt at a "makeover" that people would look at as pandering.

Provided voter fraud is not proven in the next few weeks, the
democratic party is fast becoming extinct, and i mention the
symbol, as i fully mean the depth of change behind the action
as well as the surface appearance. It means to me, that the
Dixicrats, the racism, and the DLC faux-republicanism are over
and that the democrats are out to win.

If we're just changing the symbol, i agree with you, but if
we do achieve a root and branch re-grassrootization of the
party, the vigourous change really should be messaged somehow
and that is what branding is all about.

Who ever heard of a nice piece of elephant?

I'm happy with that as my symbol. More sophisticated than the elephant at least.

The American Mountain Lion (no royal African lions)
The Buffalo
The Wolverine
The Grey Wolf
The Rattlesnake (Don't Tread On Me!)
The Alligator
The majestic American Elk
or an introduced animal such as the mustang?

No bears (Russian symbol), and the Bald Eagle is already too overused. Moose are too goofy-looking. I suppose you could substitute a powerful plow horse for the donkey, the former a symbol which resonates with our pioneering past and with rural America (and with folks who drink Budweiser, I guess). ;)

It's almost insanity. I feel as though the party is completely falling apart...Maybe it's the type of laughter you have when you know you're actually hurting.

We're now trying to rebrand ourselves...That too after I read an article where three decent senators are thinking of leaving because they don't feel they can even accomplish anything on the federal level.

As for the animals you listed, I like lions...but people might find it kinda strange for the party to switch symbols. It might almost seem like an obvious ploy.

A lion would be good.

Maybe hire the donkey from Shrek. Wonder if Eddie Murphy is a Democrat?

Now that I think about it that would be almost as good as Joe Camel.

and haven't tasted a championship since.

Retiring the donkey would be a huge mistake.

the superbowl recently?.. a catchy jaguar or something?

Perhaps the cleveland browns have other problems deeper than
their logo... plus, political parties change representation
all the time, and to reverse what could easily be a fatal
decline in the next election, i think radical measure may
be in order.

Perhaps an "elf" would be better. Then cleveland can take
the jackass as their logo, and the democrats can win the
superbowl! :-)

the Brownie would make a great Demo Party symbol.

Football tucked away translates to "We won't fumble with your Social Security".

Cocky pose could be construed as "We know we're good and you Pukes will soon".

With the Brownie we could go head-to-head homophobe with the Pukes and still pull the gay vote.

And while one might expect him to be yellow, in most incarnations he's very white.

On the short side: we do lose PA.

http://nflhistory.net/shared/personalities.asp?Team=7

They would call us commies in a second. I like the donkey and what it symbolizes.