 No, not that kind. We're talking about the Republicans' elephant and the Democrats' donkey. The animal symbols go back to the Civil War era when famed cartoonist Thomas Nast used them to make fun of the parties. Both the donkey and the elephant, they're insults from a time when partisanship is really high. John Grinspan of the Smithsonian American History Museum says the donkey arrived first. Originally associated with Andrew Jackson, and they got pretty easily from Jackson to Jackass the donkey.