The presidential campaign, presented in analyzed cartoons from the fine young political pundits at USM.
Created by mtaftmtaft on Oct 29, 2008
Last updated: 03/11/10 at 08:40 PM
Campaign 2008 In Cartoons - Period 1 has no followers yet. Be the first one to follow.
Cartoon by Mike Lane, Baltimore, Maryland
Analysis by Student A.
ISSUE - As the Presidential Election enters its final week, most polls show John McCain behind Barack Obama in the general election. According to recent polls by CNN and Newsweek, respondents supported Obama's positions on nearly every issue, including the economy, health care, taxes, and the concept of change. McCain is still favored in areas involving the military and foreign policy.
TECHNIQUES –
SYMBOLISM – the elephant and term GOP symbolizes the Republican Party
ANALOGY – the presidential campaign is being compared to a boxing match, with John McCain being battered
SARCASM – the sarcastic remark about “hitting his fists with your face” is commenting on the Republican election strategy
COMMENT – The cartoonist is not only commenting that the McCain campaign is being beaten, but he is also making a comment about the failure of the Republican Party to develop a strategy to win the election.
http://www.pollingreport.com/wh08.htm
Cartoon by Dave Granlund Analysis by Janel L. Issue- Colin Powell endorses Barack Obama on October 19th during the 2008 election. During the 2004 election, Colin Powell was a Republican. He is concerned of the recent decisions of the Republican Party. Techniques- Symbolism- between the Obama and Powell characters Caricature- Barack Obama and Colin Powell Sarcasm- Obama and Powell are dressed as a boy scout and a boy scout leader. Comment- The cartoonist is saying that Obama and Powell act as boy scouts working together and leading.
ISSUE: The McCain Campaign is going down the toilet and the average Joe (Joe the Plumber) has come to fix the problem. John McCain now is using Joe the Plumber as a symbol for the working He is using him because the original Joe the Plumber complained about Obama’s tax plan. http://www.boston.com/news/politics/2008/articles/2008/10/18/mccain_defends_joe_the_plumber/ TECHNIQUES: SYMBOLISM: Joe the Plumber is the average person SARCASM: the McCain campaign is going down the toilet COMMENT: The cartoonist is commenting on the McCain campaign is not doing well. They have called on the average person to help get them out of there problems. He is also commenting on the fact that McCain is not running his campaign properly.
The issue of this cartoon is that Obama is "robbing" the rich and giving the money to the poor like Robin Hood did. He wants to raise taxes of people who make over a quarter million dollars a year. The Sheriff of the cartoon is representing John McCain who is trying to stop Obama from "robbing" the rich.
http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/10/13/obama-plumber-plan-spread-wealth/
ISSUE: McCain thought that Obama debated poorly in the town hall debate, but the people and media thought Obama won.
TOPIC:
This cartoon is referring to McCain calling Obama “that one” at the second presidential debate. However, McCain’s character is saying that he is surprised that critics think that Obama won the town hall debate. The polls also showed that people thought Obama won the town hall debate, not McCain.
TECHNIQUES: Sarcasm-McCain's character is saying sarcastically that Obama won the debate, caricature-Both McCain and Obama are drawn in caricatures.
COMMENT: The cartoonist thinks that Obama won the debate and that McCain is surprised that he didn't.
http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1848164,00.html
ISSUE: Of the two VP candidates, Joe Biden has experience. Sarah Palin is very inexperienced. The Republican Candidate running for presidency, John McCain, is very old. Many are worried he will not survive the four years as president, if he doesn’t the presidency is left in the hands of Palin. Terrifying thought. TECHNIQUES- SARCASM- Saying Sarah Palin has no experience and is like a little kid. ANALOGY- The cartoon is comparing VP candidate ,Sarah Palin, to a little kid needing training wheels.
TOPIC: This cartoon is referring to Barack Obama's foreign policy problems. These problems are that he doesn't have any military experience and he doesn't know much about foreign policies.
TECHNIQUES: Sarcasm, symbolism- toy army tank, and caricature.
ISSUE: People are saying that Obama has no foreign policy experience and thats why he chose Joe Biden.
COMMENT: The editorial cartoonist believes that Joe Biden was chosen by Obama because he has no military experience and no foriegn policy experience(he doesn't know anything about it)
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1695803,00.html?xid=feed-cnn-topics
While hurricane Gustav approaches New Orleans, the republican convention is on it's way. So after being criticized for the actions that he took after hurricane Katrina, George Bush has the decision to go to convention or go help with the hurricane problems.
Senator John McCain chooses Alaskan Governor, Sarah Palin, to be his vice-president. Palin was drawn as a little girl while McCain was portrayed as an old guy who is coming out of the hospital on a wheelchair. A technique is sarcasm because the artist makes fun of McCain's age and Palin's young age. My comment on this cartoon is that McCain is too old to be the president and he picked an young person to be his runner up if he dies. I think the cartoonist was trying to say that Palin is still young to be a vice president and McCain is too old to be a president of the strongest country in the world.
Barack obama accepted his nomination on the 45th anniversary of MLK Junior’s “I have a dream” speech and the Washington march. That’s one reason why in the cartoon it shows MLK and Obama fist bumping. Another reason is that MLK was fighting for black and whites to be equal, and now a black and a white man are running for the President of the United States, and that is about as equal as you can get. So the cartoon is showing that MLK would be proud of Obama for accomplishing this, and they are touching fist or “bumping them” because it has become a well-known symbol in the black community. The cartoons biggest message is that MLK would be proud of Obama, himself, and the world, for accepting a black man to run for president.
http://middle.usm.k12.wi.us/faculty/taft/Unit2/Campaign2008Cartoons/bruce_plante_obamanomination.jpg
Riley Pelisek
ISSUE: The Democratic National Convention is beginning tomorrow. Two candidates for the DNP nomination are going into the convention but only one will come out. People are worried how the party will come together and if the people supporting either Clinton or Obama will be able to get behind the winning candidate.
Techniques:
Symbolism- The donkey is the common symbol for the Democratic Party.
Sarcasm- The cartoonist is saying Clinton and Obama supporters are only being held together by superglue.
Comment- The cartoonist is saying that the Democratic National Convention will be an interesting scene because there are two very separated sides, Clinton and Obama, which are going to have to come together and support one candidate for the Democratic Party. He is also saying the two sides are only hanging together by the glue that they both are liberal.
http://www.usnews.com/blogs/erbe/2008/8/26/a-split-convention-and-a-backwards-bounce.html
Cartoon by R.J. Matson
Analysis by Jake W.
Issue- There were two major democrats running for president, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. Hillary Clinton is the wife of former president, Bill Clinton. After the polls showed that Hillary was behind, she dropped out and told her supporters to stand behind Barack.
Techniques-
Reference- You wouldn’t understand the cartoon if you didn’t know about Road Runner.
Caricature- Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton both have caricatured faces.
Analogy- Clinton is compared to the coyote and running away from Obama who is the Road Runner.
Symbolism- The signs in the back symbolize the states of Montana and South Dakota.
Comment- The cartoonist is showing that Obama is going to win and Clinton ran away because she knew she would lose. He is also commenting on SD and MT voting for Barack Obama.
http://www.cbc.ca/world/usvotes/story/2008/06/07/clinton.html
Issue- Barack Obama and Hilary Clinton are fighting for the democratic position for president, while McCain is in a sports car and ready for the presidential race. Techniques and descriptions- Exaggeration- Obama and Clinton are in bumper cars and McCain is in a sports car. Editorial comment of cartoonist- The comment is that while Obama and Clinton are still fighting about the democratic position for the presidential candidate and McCain is ready for the actual Presidential race. Resource- http://www.usnews.com/articles/news/campaign-2008/2008/04/11/clinton-and-obama-fight-for-last-major-delegate-prize-in-pennsylvania.html
Cartoon from 2/5/2008. By Jack Ohman, Portland, OR, The Portland Oregonian
Analyzed by Nishad A.
Title: McCain’s Right Wing
Topic: This cartoon is about McCain being too conservative.
Issue: John McCain has been considered a conservative ever since he was in the Senate. He has almost always voted with his party. Obama has been ripping on his by saying that he has no new and that the are all President Bush's
Techniques:
Caricature- in the plane it is John McCain
Symbol- the plane’s right wing is being referred to as right wing politics.
Comment- This cartoon is saying that McCain is a conservative but he is also a maverick so the right wing politicians don't accept him. This is shown because his right wing is falling off in the picture.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/109695
Issue- McCain pulls ahead in the polls on Super Tuesday. McCain beats the other republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney by cutting down on his expenses but Mitt on the other hand was spending tons and tons of money on his c Techniques Symbolism- the bus symbolizes the cheaper campaign and the expensive limo represents Mitts expensive campaign. Caricature- the person driving the bus is a caricature of McCain Comment- McCain is getting a bounce into super Tuesday even though Mitt is spending o much money
TOPIC: There are too many presidential candidates.
ISSUE: There are too many presidential candidates. When you look back many dropped out around June or July. On the Republican side there were 11 total candidates running for election, McCain is left. When you look at the Democrat side there were 8 candidates running for election, Obama is left. As you can see there were a total of 19 candidates running but we are down to two, too many candidates?
TECHNIQUES: Sarcasm and Exaggeration. It uses exaggeration because there weren't 20,000 candidates. There is also sarcasm because she says "troop surge?" when it is candidates that are being referred to.
COMMENT: The editorial cartoonist wanted to make the point that there are too many presidential candidates. They are comparing them to troops.
http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/candidates/
Issue- Obama’s pastor said “God Damn America, U.S. to blame for 9/11,” so Obama breaks away from him. Before Obama was defending his pastor reputation, but now he was stopped, because of what he said. Techniques- Sarcam- Obama is wearing a bag over his head to hide from the pastor. Editorial Comment- That Obama is hiding from his pastor.
Topic: This cartoon has to do with Obama entering the Presidential race. Issue: Obama entered the Presidential race. He believes that we should end the war in Iraq and it is time to turn the page in politics and government today. Comment: The cartoon says, “Obama throws his hat into the race”. A baby bonnet represents Obama’s hat. This implies that Obama has the experience of a baby, and knows nothing when it comes to government. Techniques: - Sarcasm & Symbolism: The baby bonnet represents that Obama has no experience when it comes to government

