Editorial Cartoons Analysis: the 2016 Presidential Primaries

Steve Kelley

January 29, 2016

The Week

The circus master (Donald Trump) has managed to turn the elephant (the Republican Party) on

its head. However, the elephant still thinks it runs the show. This cartoon satirizes what the 2016

Republican presidential race has been like up until this point: Trump’s almost uninterrupted

status as the frontrunner has turned the Republican Party upside down. However, the party still

thinks it runs the show — not recognizing, as this cartoon shows, that Trump has firm control

over it. Since the cartoon is clearly lampooning the GOP establishment, Steve Kelley probably

supports a Democratic candidate. However, the cartoon accurately satirizes the actual state of

affairs within the Republican presidential race. Everyone who follows the presidential race can

agree that Trump has turned the GOP on its head; that, of the two of them, he has the upper hand,

and that the party establishment still thinks it runs the show. Also, unlike most cartoonists, and

unlike in most of his other works, Steve Kelley doesn’t exaggerate his characters’ physical

characteristics in this particular cartoon. This helps create a more serious tone in his cartoon,

tying back to what was said earlier about the cartoon making a statement about the current state

of affairs in the Republican race.

Matt Wuerker

January 26, 2016

Politico

This cartoon depends heavily on an historical allusion to make its point. Matt Wuerker uses the

above famous photo of the American evacuation from Saigon prior to the fall of the city to the

North Vietnamese forces during the Vietnam War in 1975. The photo shows a long line of U.S.

Government personnel trying to board a helicopter on the roof of an apartment building.

Similarly, in the cartoon, people carrying money sacks and boxes brimming with cash (wealthy

donors) are evacuating from a building with a big banner saying Jeb! Headquarters (Jeb Bush’s

campaign), taking with them all their money (campaign contributions). Ever since Jeb’s poll

numbers began their long decline last summer, contributions from wealthy donors have done the

same, at an even more dramatic rate. The fact that Wuerker bases his cartoon on that particular

photo makes his point all the more mocking of Jeb’s woes. It can therefore be concluded that

Wuerker is not a Jeb Bush supporter and that he either supports another Republican candidate or

a Democratic one. This cartoon will draw laughs if the viewer understands the historical allusion.

Mike Lukovich

February 11, 2016

The Week

The woman at the mirror (Melania, Donald Trump’s wife) is indignantly brushing her hair while

Trump pats the pillow next to him, beckoning her to get into bed with him. Since she has no

other choice but to comply, no matter how much she dreads it, she thinks, “Now the Republican

establishment knows how I feel.” Mike Lukovich humorously lampoons the Republican Party’s

plight of being forced to accept Trump and go along with him (an idiom that’s actually been used

by pundits is “getting in bed with him”). Lukovich uses the cliché of the reluctant but helpless

wife who has no other choice but to get into bed with her undesirable husband to represent the

GOP’s relationship with Trump. Trump’s self-satisfied facial expression reinforces this message.

Since the party establishment is stuck with Trump as a serious frontrunner, they have no choice

but to recognize him as a potential nominee. Considering the hilariously mocking way Lukovich

chooses to illustrate his message (a beautiful, repulsed wife not wanting to get into bed with her

old, undesirable husband), he either supports another Republican candidate or a Democratic one.

Gary Varvel

January 17, 2016

The Week

Angry birds from the game Angry Birds (angry voters) are ganging up and getting ready to

attack the king pig sitting on a throne labeled “GOP establishment” (the Republican Party

establishment), under which two smaller pigs are cowering in fear (Republican establishment

candidates probably). As Donald Trump himself stated at one of the debates, voters are ANGRY.

Even more, they’re taking out their anger by ganging up against the high and mighty GOP

establishment — who’d originally dominated and run the show — and the candidates who

belong to it. Even more, as with the birds, angry voters will strive to do the most in their power

to knock down and defeat the GOP establishment and its candidates (hence the bird in the drawn-

back sling). For their part, the GOP establishment and its candidates recognize this threat and are

afraid of it. Varvel most likely supports a Democratic candidate, since he’s satirizing an

antiestablishment backlash in the GOP (but that’s also happening in the Democratic Party, as he

neglects to include here). This cartoon will draw laughs from those who can relate to Angry

Birds.

David Horsey

February 4, 2016

The Week (where I found it)

This cartoon satirizes the Iowa Democratic caucus. Even though Hillary Clinton won (by .3%),

as it was received in the public, the media, and pundits alike, it was basically a tie, and was a

huge momentum booster for Bernie Sanders. The text box on the left (“Iowa picks a winner”)

serves as a caption for the two-headed figure featuring Clinton’s and Sander’s faces and both

their hands raised in the V-for-victory sign. The message is clear: the winner is both Clinton and

Sanders. However, as Clinton’s anxious facial expression and Sander’s self-satisfied one show,

Clinton recognizes the clear and present threat he poses to her candidacy. David Horsey

therefore evidently agrees with overwhelming public opinion that the Iowa caucus was basically

a tie, and in some ways, a victory for Sanders (he came an astonishing .3% to tying/beating

Clinton, a remarkable feat showing that he actually has a chance of winning). As with the Donald

Trump circus master cartoon, a definite conclusion on Horsey’s political leanings can’t be drawn

from this cartoon, since rather than making fun of either candidate, it’s actually satirizing what

basically happened in Iowa.

Scott Stantis

February 11, 2016

The Week (where I found it)

As indicated by the Hillary Clinton campaign logos on the carriage, Clinton is the woman headed

to her coronation as queen (the Democratic nomination) in her fancy golden carriage (her easy

lead in the polls up until recently). However, a funny (read: ironic) thing happened on the way

there: a sickle labeled “Bernie” (Bernie Sanders) lodged in one of the rear wheels and blew it

(Sanders’s emergence as a formidable threat to her candidacy). The occurrence is ironic because

the sickle — one of the most potent symbols of communism (an allusion to Sanders’s

identification as a democratic socialist) — has thwarted the queen’s progress to her coronation

(communism is generally associated with antimonarchism, most famously in its violent handling

of the Romanov imperial family during the Russian Revolution). The golden carriage can also

symbolize the order of concentrated wealth and power (including Clinton’s connections to Wall

Street) that Sanders seeks to destroy. Scott Stantis obviously thinks it’s highly ironic that

Clinton’s road to her “coronation” as the Democratic nominee is being thwarted by a socialist.

He might therefore support a Republican candidate, since he used a sickle instead of a raised fist

or red flag (more socialist symbols, versus the very communist sickle) to represent Sanders.

John Deering

February 4, 2016

The Week (where I found it)

The Evil Queen from Snow White (Hillary Clinton) sighs in disappointment as Bernie Sanders’s

face appears in her magic mirror instead of hers. The analogy between the queen wanting to

always be the “fairest in the land” represents Clinton wanting to always be the more popular of

the two Democratic candidates. As in the tale of Snow White, however, it all changes one day,

when the underdog (Snow White/Sanders) becomes the “fairest in the land” (the more popular of

the two Democratic candidates). This cartoon satirizes Clinton’s recent struggles brought on by

Sanders’s landslide victory in New Hampshire, public perception of her as being controlled by

Wall Street, and her inability to connect with female voters and millennials, weaknesses that

Sanders has been able to successfully exploit to his advantage. John Deering clearly shares this

negative popular opinion about Clinton, ridiculing her as the Evil Queen in his cartoon. Since

Deering is obviously not a Clinton supporter, he most likely supports Sanders or a Republican

candidate.

Daryl Cagle

February 11, 2016

The Week (where I found it)

In this Valentine’s Day-themed cartoon, young, overwhelmingly female voters are passionately

flocking to Bernie Sanders and ditching Hillary Clinton. This cartoon satirizes Clinton’s inability

to attract millennials and female voters, since, ironically, she’s a woman AND a self-proclaimed

feminist, and her opponent is an old man in his 70s with a few strands of messy hair left. Yet,

defying all logic and common sense, millennials and female voters seem to be so much more in

love with him than her. The pedestal Sanders is standing on can symbolize his almost godlike

status among his supporters. Cupid is there to reinforce the symbolism of the young voters’

passionate love for Sanders, implying that he shot them with his arrows of love (toward Sanders,

that is). Cagle portrays the infatuated young voters very mockingly, depicting them as bright, up-

and-coming young people who somehow adore a kooky old man who is their physical polar

opposite. Cagle is therefore either somewhat sympathetic towards Clinton or supports a

Republican candidate.

Reflection

The central theme of this collection of eight cartoons on the 2016 presidential race is

antiestablishment forces upsetting establishment ones. In the first cartoon, circus master and

antiestablishment candidate Donald Trump has turned the elephant of the Republican

establishment on its head and, although the elephant objects to it, is in firm control of the

proceedings. In the second cartoon, wealthy donors — a symbol of the establishment — are

evacuating from establishment candidate Jeb Bush’s campaign with all their money, leaving to

seek better options elsewhere than his troubled campaign. In the third cartoon, Melania Trump

represents the GOP establishment’s reluctance to accept Donald Trump as a serious frontrunner

and potential nominee. In the fourth and final cartoon satirizing the Republican race, angry

voters are laying siege to the powerful GOP establishment and its candidates. In the fifth cartoon,

the first one satirizing the Democratic race, the triumphant antiestablishment candidate Bernie

Sanders is rejoicing at his status as a virtual co-winner alongside longtime establishment favorite

Hillary Clinton in the Iowa Democratic caucus. In the sixth cartoon, Clinton’s previously

uninterrupted progress to her coronation as the Democratic nominee is thwarted by a sickle

representing the socialist Sanders. In the seventh cartoon, Clinton as the Evil Queen from Snow

White is sulking over Sanders’s unseating her as the most popular Democratic candidate. Finally,

in the eighth and final cartoon, demographic groups Clinton had been targeting, including

millennials and young voters, are flocking to Sanders instead of her. This central theme is one of

the main themes of the race itself: never have antiestablishment candidates been so successful in

a presidential race, and never have establishment candidates been so scorned. Although this

theme has been present in the Republican race throughout the entire process, it has recently

emerged in the Democratic one, catching Democratic elites totally off-guard, as Republican ones

were over the summer and the fall of 2015.

The collection is evenly split between representations of both parties’ races. Most of the

cartoons are witty, using incredibly witty and creative ways and symbols to poke fun at but still

convey a profound message about both races. I’d chosen some of these cartoons specifically

because they were so funny. There were so many other wonderful cartoons I wanted to use, but

unfortunately, they didn’t fit into my central theme. I must confess that the cartoons affected my

opinions and perceptions of the Democratic and Republican races. If made well (and I feel all

these were), cartoons can really get you to see things the way their artists see it. And since

cartoons tend to be exaggerated, they can also make you think that an occurrence they depict is

more overblown than it really is. In most of the cartoons I found, however, the artist really did

represent an opinion a substantial majority agrees on. These include Jeb Bush’s floundering

campaign, the Iowa Democratic caucus, Hillary’s thwarted coronation as the Democratic

nominee, and the Hillary vs. Bernie free-for-all on young voters and female voters. These are all

election events that have taken over the news and generated lots of food for pundits. All in all, it

was extremely fun going through The Week and Politico browsing through hundreds of cartoons.