Dave Whamond leads off today because he is one of the few cartoonists who made the name of the Democrats’ (purported) VP candidate into a pun that (A) works and (B) is politically relevant and (C) shows Whamond knows how the name is pronounced.

I don’t think Trump paraphrases Reagan very often, but Whamond has JD yank the reference back into Trump’s own brand of empty promises and, most important of all, Walz refuses to get dragged in.

Meanwhile, here’s our

Juxtaposition of the Day

David Rowe

Bill Bramhall

Rowe and Bramhall are only two of many cartoonists who made a pun of Walz’s name under the false assumption that the Z represents a TS sound. It doesn’t, which renders the pun unworkable.

I choose them because they are so often featured here approvingly that they can afford to take a hit on behalf of several other colleagues.

Meanwhile, if you hear a thumping sound, it’s John Deering (Creators) repeatedly hitting his head on his desk for having gotten a little ahead of the news, only to look in his rearview mirror and discover that it had turned off at a different intersection.

Though his error, a one-time matter of timing, does allow me to observe a repeated, totally blockheaded bit of nonsense coming from the MAGAts, who insist that Harris refused to choose Shapiro as a running mate because he is of the same religion as her husband and two stepdaughters.

They don’t phrase it that way, but that doesn’t make the claim any less asinine.

Clay Bennett (CTFP) echoes Whamond’s depiction of a calm refusal to take the bait. He doesn’t use a pun, but he makes a visual reference to Vance’s alleged use of eyeliner, while Walz himself made quite a wisecrack at JD Maybelline’s expense: “I can’t wait to debate the guy. That is, if he’s willing to get off the couch and show up.”

He then added “See what I did there?” in an apparent admission that he knows the couch story is fake, but wasn’t neglecting the other point: Trump’s running away from the September 10 debate with Harris is absolutely true.

Walz is the anti-Agnew. Nixon chose Agnew as an attack dog who was spoon-fed insults by Pat Buchanan that he would hurl at liberals before a press always thrilled to quote him.

By contrast, Democrats have, since the rise of Harris, learned that, while insults don’t work against MAGAts, conservatives can’t stand being laughed at. She can then play the prosecutor-versus-felon role while letting Walz unleash the punch lines.

Jack Ohman (Tribune) cites Walz’s downhome Minnesota persona as helping create a winning combination with Harris. Walz is, indeed, a fisherman as well as a hunter, and, in the latter role, represents sane gun ownership, since — like a large number of hunters — he defends the 2nd Amendment but favors sensible oversight.

Meanwhile, that fish — a type of bottom-feeder — seems like an easy catch, but Harris might want to put down the cookbook and pick up the net, since it’s going to take both of them to land that carpsucker.

Speaking of fishing, the conservatives have been casting about trying to find something that works against Harris, and now Harris/Walz.

Dana Summers (Tribune) has picked up on the War on Woke, which might work, since we’ve seen how Walz is adored by children, dogs, cats and even piglets.

Affection for others and being liked in return is clearly a sign of Wokeness.

But he’s not less moderate than Harris, which is why he’s such a smart addition to the ticket. In addition to being a hunter and gun owner, he’s a Guard veteran who rose from private to command sergeant major, which is an E-9 and as high as you can go without pinning bars to your shoulders. Being a 24-year vet but not an officer is an asset in the blue collar world.

It’s true that he taught English in China in the 80s, speaks some Mandarin and honeymooned there as well as leading student trips to study the country. Social Studies teachers often take an interest in the world outside our borders, and Walz also favors ending Trump’s trade war with China.

But Gary Varvel (Creators) is likely overstating Xi’s enthusiasm and, certainly, the degree to which he is fascinated with the vice-presidential stakes. Besides, China has long had good reasons to root for Dear Leader.

Anybody want to do a cartoon about who Egyptian President Abdel Farrah el-Sisi favors?

The Whole World is Watching

British cartoonist KJ Lamb offers this take on Vance’s crack about childless cat ladies, to which I’ll add that, however closely she has studied JD Vance, she’s had a good look at Sandra Boynton’s cats or vice-versa.

If I had to choose one Yank between those two, I’d pair up with Boynton as well.

Ella Baron goes deeper into the issues with this take on Trump’s fury over Biden having negotiated that spectacular, multi-nation hostage exchange. And I should say “the Biden Administration,” because the current presidential nominee met privately with German and Slovenian presidents during her time at the Munich Security Conference, in order to nail down their parts in the swap.

Trump not only bragged that his pal Putin would only free Americans at Dear Leader’s request, but declared Harris would be “a play toy” for foreign leaders. “They look at her and they say we can’t believe we got so lucky. They’re gonna walk all over her.”

You’ve got a little egg on your face there, pal. Or maybe it’s borscht?

Patrick Hudson suggests that an increasingly tangled and incoherent Trump may not even be in the running by Election Day, and, while it would be a stunning development, it’s not entirely out of the question and Hudson is not the only person wondering if Dear Leader can last.

Steve Bright depicts an energized, vital Harris gaining on a faltering Trump.

Canadian Lar DeSouza puts the race in familiar terms and suggests that maybe Dear Leader is simply too clever, and too inept, for his own good, while Harris is enjoying the run.

And Graeme MacKay clearly sees the choices Americans face, including the potential for making his fellow Canadian’s novel go from fiction to reality.

(Here’s the source of our opening pun.)