I'd be a Republican with apologies to Vance Randolph

One time the boys got to talking politics, and one fellow says, "Just give me one good reason why you're a Democrat.

Well, old man Bledsoe says his father was a Democrat and his grandfather was a Democrat, so naturally he's a Democrat too.

"Hell, that ain't no reason," says the other fellow. "What if your father and grandfather was both horse-thieves! Would you have to be a horse-thief, too?"

Old man Bledsoe just grinned. "No," he says, "in that case I reckon I'd be a Republican."

Hot Springs and Hell, and other Folk Jests and Anecdotes from the Ozarks, Collected and annotated by Vance Randolph. Published by Folklore Associates, Hatboro, Pennsylvania, 1965.

Randolph's notes:
Told by T. A. McQuary, Galena, MO, December, 1935. McQuary and I were almost the only Democrats in the village, and he told this tale in a loud voice for the benefit of our neighbors.