Know Where to Stand, Republicans VS Democrats

By: Carrie Gottleib

A political party is a group of voters organized to support certain public policies. The aim of a political party is to elect officials who will try to carry out the party's policies. When people in a democracy disagree about what the government should do, voters express their opinions by voting for the candidates that most closely reflect their views. Political parties provide a way for voters to easily identify a candidate's position.

 In 1787, the first political party was a group of men called “Federalists”. These people believed in a strong national government and consisted mostly of businessmen, bankers and merchants. In 1796, anti-Federalists formed a group and called themselves “Democratic-Republicans”. This group consisted mostly of farmers who wanted to limit the power of federal government in order to give more power to the states and local governments.

 In 1828 when Andrew Jackson, a Democratic-Republican from Tennessee, was elected president, he changed the party’s name to Democrats.  Then all the federalists who were anti-Jackson formed the Republicans.

 Today, Democrats are more known for being Liberals. They favor minimum wages and progressive taxation. The symbol for Democrats is the donkey. When Andrew Jackson ran for president, his opponents tried to label him a "jackass". Jackson turned it to his advantage by using it on his campaign posters after Thomas Nast used the donkey in newspaper cartoons and made the symbol famous, the donkey was used to represent Jackson's stubbornness.

Republicans today are known for being conservatives. They favor minimum taxation for all and that the free market should set wages. A free market determines the price of goods and services by supply and demand rather than government regulation. The symbol for Republicans is the elephant.  Thomas Nast also invented the Republican elephant. In another cartoon, Nast drew a donkey in lion's skin scaring away all the animals at a zoo. One of those animals, the elephant, was labeled “The Republican Vote.” After that the elephant became associated with the Republican Party. Democrats today say the donkey is smart and brave, while Republicans say the elephant is strong and dignified.

Your vote does matter! Make sure to register; your deadline to register is October 30th by person, and October 23rd postmarked by mail. Be there November 6th at you local voting station to cast your vote! To help promote the 2012 election, WCSU students in the Writing, Linguistics and Creative Process Department's Advertising, Copywriting and Promotions class created a Twitter page. Also check out their blogs at www.danbury.patch.com. Get educated on whom to vote for by visiting our Facebook page.