http://www.nfrw.org/republicans/women/milestones.htm
2012 Republican Party Platform
Origin of the Republican Elephant
The Republican Party
Origin of the Republican Elephant
This symbol of the party was born in the imagination of cartoonist Thomas Nast and first appeared in Harper’s Weekly on Nov. 7, 1874. An 1860 issue of Railsplitter and an 1872 cartoon in Harper’s Weekly connected elephants with Republicans, but it was Nast who provided the party with its symbol.
Oddly, two unconnected events led to the birth of the Republican Elephant. James Gordon Bennett’s New York Herald raised the cry of “Caesarism” in connection with the possibility of a third term try for President Ulysses S. Grant. The issue was taken up by the Democratic politicians in 1874, halfway through Grant’s second term and just before the midterm elections, and helped disaffect Republican voters.
While the illustrated journals were depicting Grant wearing a crown, the Herald involved itself in another circulation-builder in an entirely different, nonpolitical area. This was the Central Park Menagerie Scare of 1874, a delightful hoax perpetrated by the Herald. They ran a story, totally untrue, that the animals in the zoo had broken loose and were roaming the wilds of New York’s Central Park in search of prey.
Cartoonist Thomas Nast took the two examples of the Herald enterprise and put them together in a cartoon for Harper’s Weekly. He showed an ass (symbolizing the Herald) wearing a lion’s skin (the scary prospect of Caesarism) frightening away the animals in the forest (Central Park). The caption quoted a familiar fable: “An ass having put on a lion’s skin roamed about in the forest and amused himself by frightening all the foolish animals he met within his wanderings.”
One of the foolish animals in the cartoon was an elephant, representing the Republican vote – not the party, the Republican vote – which was being frightened away from its normal ties by the phony scare of Caesarism. In a subsequent cartoon on Nov. 21, 1874, after the election in which the Republicans did badly, Nast followed up the idea by showing the elephant in a trap, illustrating the way the Republican vote had been decoyed from its normal allegiance.
Other cartoonists picked up the symbol, and the elephant soon ceased to be the vote and became the party itself: the jackass, now referred to as the donkey, made a natural transition from representing the Herald to representing the Democratic party that had frightened the elephant.
From William Safire’s “New Language of Politics,” Revised edition, Collier Books, New York, 1972
I am a Republican because. . . (Republican Principles)
The Republican Party
Republican Principles
I am a Republican because:
I believe the strength of our nation lies with the individual and that each person’s dignity, freedom, ability and responsibility must be honored.
I believe in equal rights, equal justice and equal opportunity for all, regardless of race, creed, sex, age or disability.
I believe that free enterprise and the encouragement of individual initiative have brought this nation opportunity, economic growth and prosperity.
I believe government must practice fiscal responsibility and allow individuals to keep more of the money they earn.
I believe the proper role of government is to provide for the people only those critical functions that cannot be performed by individuals or private organizations and that the best government is that which governs least.
I believe the most effective, responsible and responsive government is government closest to the people.
I believe Americans must retain the principles that have made us strong while developing new and innovative ideas to meet the challenges of changing times.
I believe Americans value and should preserve our national strength and pride while working to extend peace, freedom and human rights throughout the world.
Finally, I believe the Republican Party is the best vehicle for translating these ideals into positive and successful principles of government.
The Republican Oath
The Republican Party
Republican Oath
I believe that the proper function of government is to do for the people those things that have to be done but cannot be done, or cannot be done as well by individuals, and that the most effective government is government closest to the people.
I believe that good government is based on the individual and that each person’s ability, dignity, freedom and responsibility must be honored and recognized.
I believe that free enterprise and the encouragement of individual initiative and incentive have given this nation an economic system second to none.
I believe that sound money policy should be our goal.
I believe in equal rights, equal justice and equal opportunity for all, regardless of race, creed, age, sex or national origin. I believe that persons with disabilities should be afforded equal rights, equal justice and equal opportunity as well.
I believe we must retain those principles worth retaining, yet always be receptive to new ideas with an outlook broad enough to accommodate thoughtful change and varying points of view.
I believe that Americans value and should preserve their feeling of national strength and pride, and at the same time share with people everywhere a desire for peace and freedom and the extension of human rights throughout the world.
Finally, I believe that the Republican Party is the best vehicle for translating these ideals into positive and successful principles of government.
The Republican Party / Origin of ‘GOP’
The Republican Party
Origin of ‘GOP’
A favorite of headline writers, GOP dates back to the 1870s and ’80s. The abbreviation was cited in a New York Herald story on Oct. 15, 1884; “‘ The G.O.P. Doomed,’ shouted the Boston Post…. The Grand Old Party is in condition to inquire….”
But what GOP stands for has changed with the times. In 1875 there was a citation in the Congressional Record referring to “this gallant old party,” and, according to Harper’s Weekly, in the Cincinnati Commercial in 1876 to “Grand Old Party.”
Perhaps the use of “the G.O.M.” for Britain’s Prime Minister William E. Gladstone in 1882 as ” the Grand Old Man” stimulated the use of GOP in the United States soon after.
In early motorcar days, GOP took on the term “get out and push.” During the 1964 presidential campaign, “Go-Party” was used briefly, and during the Nixon Administration, frequent references to the “generation of peace” had happy overtones. In line with moves in the ’70s to modernize the party, Republican leaders took to referring to the “grand old party,” harkening back to a 1971 speech by President Nixon at the dedication of the Eisenhower Republican Center in Washington, D.C.
Indeed, the “grand old party” is an ironic term, since the Democrat Party was organized some 22 years earlier in 1832.
Source: The Republican National Committee
Thought for the day . . .
“What you will do matters. All you need to do is DO IT.” ~ Judy Grahn
Why does it seems after we elect a judge he’s always there? What does it mean when the judge appears on the ballot for “retention?”
How Pennsylvania Judicial Elections Work
Currently in Pennsylvania, elections to fill vacancies on the courts are held in odd-numbered years. Appellate court and common pleas court candidates run in partisan elections (i.e., under a party label) for terms of ten years; minor court candidates also run in partisan elections, but for six year terms. Typically, the major political parties endorse candidates to run. For trial judges only, a candidate may receive the endorsement of both parties. Following completion of a term, a judge can stand for successive ten-year terms in retention elections (non-partisan, uncontested yes/no votes) up until mandatory retirement at the age of seventy.
Like other candidates who run for office in contested elections, judicial candidates must raise money to finance their campaigns. Typically, contributors to such campaigns are the very parties, litigants and lawyers who ultimately appear before the courts on which the candidates are seeking to serve. Additionally, third party special interest groups have become increasingly active in judicial elections, funding advertising campaigns and making contributions to candidates. Rules of conduct do not require judges to recuse themselves in cases involving campaign contributors.
Historically, judicial elections in Pennsylvania have not generated nearly as much media coverage, citizen interest or participation as elections for representative office, such as governor, senator, or representative. Voters, in fact, have complained that they have not had much information available to them in making decisions between candidates. This perceived lack of information in large part resulted from codes of conduct prohibiting judicial candidates from announcing their views on disputed issues likely to come before them on the courts.
Who may run for judicial office in Pennsylvania?
Under the current system, the only requirements for an individual to run for judicial office are:
- United States citizenship;
- Residency of at least one year in Pennsylvania (or, for local elections, in the county);
- Membership in the bar of the Supreme Court; and
- At least 21 years old.
Judicial candidates are not required to have tried any cases or even actually practiced law at all, let alone for any minimum number of years.
How long are judges elected for?
Most judges are elected for ten year terms. This is true for elections to fill judicial vacancies, as well as for subsequent retention elections. However, municipal court and traffic judges in Philadelphia serve six year terms.
What is a retention election?
Retention elections are non-partisan, uncontested yes-no votes. This differs from an election to fill a judicial vacancy where candidates run in partisan elections (i.e. under a party label.) Following completion of an initial term, a judge can stand for successive ten-year terms in retention elections until he or she reaches age 70, the mandatory retirement age.
What happens if there is a vacancy created mid-term?
In the event a vacancy is created by the retirement, resignation, death or election of a judge to a higher court, an interim vacancy is created. The vacancy is filled by nomination by the Governor and confirmation by a two-thirds vote of the state Senate. Typically, for appellate court interim vacancies, the nominee’s confirmation is conditioned on a promise that he or she will not run in the succeeding election to fill the vacancy.
Who are current judges and justices on the Pennsylvania courts?
To view PMC’s charts on the current composition of the Supreme Court, click here, and on the Superior and Commenwealth Courts, click here.
Important Election in 2013
Did you know we have a very important election happening in November of 2013? More important than a presidential election? Many people take the office of judge with little or no interest. Who decides what happens to us here Pennsylvania? Our judge races are very important! Support Vic Stabile for PA Superior Court Judge. 
Rock Star GOP - Grassroots Activism Awareness 