CSotD: Episode XLVII – A New Hope

When Joe Biden announced his decision to step aside yesterday, I posted on Facebook “Political cartoonists to your drawing boards. I’ll be looking for material in 12 hours.”

I needn’t have prodded them, because at 3 a.m. I found far more material available than I could use, and not nearly as many repeats of the same concepts as I might have expected.

David Rowe seems always the first out of the blocks, and, while being in Sydney lets him work normal hours, he got a lot into this piece, as Trump finds himself the victim of a tag-team, which brings in the absurd appearance of Hulk Hogan at the RNC.

We’ve also got JD Vance apparently about to puke into a Roe v Wade bucket and a transformation of Biden’s stock “Come on, man” phrase.

The nicest touch is Kamala slipping on those Dark Brandon shades. Even given Rowe’s time advantage, there’s a lot to like here.

Juxtaposition of Foreign Voices

Ramon Diaz Yanes — Cuba

Simon Regis — Tanzania

Mahmoud Rifai — Jordan

Cartoon Movement leapt into action, assembling a collection of cartoons on the topic of which this is only a sample, and which will presumably be updated.

I was surprised by the number of overseas voices that saw it as Biden’s failure, with Regis depicting him as beaten by Trump and Rifai showing him literally kicked out by his party.

Ramon Diaz Yanes had it closer to the take of American cartoonists, with Biden riding off into the sunset and Harris cheerfully en route to face the volcano.

Aislin is not quite “overseas” being, rather, “over the border” in Montreal, but he not only covers Harris “stepping in” for Biden but emphasizes the gender factor as well as showing her “filling the shoes” as a credible candidate.

Cartoonists in non-anglophone nations often present metaphors rather than telling stories, and that can lead to some flat statements without a lot of grit or depth.

However, Aislin — cartooning for an English-language paper in a bilingual community — demonstrates what a good cartoonist can do without words.

Another simple image, this from Marc Murphy. There were a couple of “pass the torch” cartoons, though not enough to render it a cliche, but passing the baton denotes more of a sense not only of a race (inherent in both approaches) but of a rested runner taking over without breaking pace.

There’s also a less-is-more advantage in showing only the hands, and Murphy uses it to indicate a feminine hand of color accepting the baton from a white, male hand, adding to the depth of his simple piece.

Which, BTW, is addressed in this light-hearted but revelatory tweet exchange with Asha Rangappa:

And as long as we’re addressing that sort of thing, here’s what you might have already expected from whom you’d have expected it:

Yes, we can expect to see plenty of racism, misogyny and antisemitism to be openly expressed, though at least some strategists are basing their opposition on serious, compelling policy matters:

Dave Whamond provides a segue back into cartoons with this Bloom County reference.

The MAGAt brain trust — such as it is — is pushing the notion that, because Harris’s parents were not yet citizens when she was born, she’s ineligible to be president.

It’s nonsense, because she was born in California, making her a citizen under the 14th Amendment, which even SCOTUS can’t overturn, though Trump promised to do so by executive order if he is elected. Not that he’d be able to, of course.

Trump questioned Haley’s eligibility under the same nonsensical interpretation. Her old PAC has just announced its support of Kamala Harris. That dish wasn’t even served cold.

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson has also said it’s illegal for the Democrats to nominate anyone but Biden, which shows the level of preparedness under which they’re operating.

Joel Pett suggests that Trump’s collection of weapons is turning into a collection of hindrances. We can expect things to get ugly in a hurry, though yesterday’s cascade of postings suggests Dear Leader hasn’t quite figured out who he is now running against:

As Dr. MacLeod says, the Republicans need to regroup, now that they’re backing the oldest presidential candidate in American history.

Clay Jones, however, is confident that Dear Leader will find his footing and go back on the offense soon, and elaborates in an essay on his new Substack.

It’s not all unalloyed joy among progressive thinkers, however, and while Garth German shows a smiling, confident Harris taking the reins, his donkey is concerned about whether fence-sitters will be willing to climb aboard.

Joe Heller similarly suggests that the change may be too late and the party too damaged.

Mike Luckovich, by contrast, focuses on Biden’s legacy, both as a successful leader who passed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and who, by dropping out and endorsing Harris, has created a bridge to re-invigorate younger voters.

The move does not wipe out concern among young voters over US actions vis-a-vis Israel and Gaza, and Harris, a supporter of Israel whose husband is Jewish, will have to clarify where she stands on that issue.

But her outspoken, active support of women’s reproductive rights should bring a number of younger voters back to the fold, particularly since the GOP nominated a vice-president who is not only firmly against choice but has suggested that women should stay in abusive relationships.

As an example of GOP thinking thus far, Will Chamberlain, a contributor to the Federalist Society, started up a thread at Twitter declaring Harris unacceptable because she has no children.

This argument is unlikely to play well with young people questioning their own decision on that matter, as well as those who have benefited from the love of a stepparent.

The other Big Maga Attack on Harris is that she laughs too often and too loudly. I don’t think this will turn off young voters, who may just want to see who laughs last.

Meanwhile, the major donors who had held back from Biden have loosened their purse strings for Harris, and the announcement of Biden’s withdrawal, along with his endorsement of her and the flood of endorsements that followed, have inspired small donors to provide financial support as well.

And while Dave Granlund doesn’t promise a victory for the all-but-nominated nominee, he does suggest that she’ll waste no time in advancing the values that left Dear Leader in the dust four years ago, with a boost from the guy who got them there then.

She’s running, ’cause walkin’s most too slow.