Political Cartoon Analysis and Reflection
Transcript of Political Cartoon Analysis and Reflection
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Part I. Description and Analysis
February 10, 2016 -- New Hampshire by Deb Milbrath, The Association of American Editorial
Cartoonists
Deb Milbrath’s cartoon depicts the results of the 21! New Hampshire primary" Hillary #linton,
one of the two Democratic candidates, is portrayed" Deb Milbrath uses labelin$ of Hillary’s lo$o
and %21!& on the car’s license plate to symboli'e #linton and her campai$n" Milbrath also uses
labelin$ of a si$n that says %New Hampshire& that is written o(er to say %No) Hillary"& *he
arrow on the si$n points in the opposite direction of Hillary’s car" *his symboli'es that Hillary
has lost the NH primary and is lea(in$ New Hampshire" *he o(erall messa$e is that New
Hampshire doesn’t support Hillary #linton for President" *he (ulture perched on top of the si$n
symboli'es death, in this case the death of Hillary’s New Hampshire campai$n"
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February 10, 2016 --New Hampshire by Mi+e eefe, The Cagle Post
Mi+e eefe’s cartoon depicts the impact of the New Hampshire primary on the stablishment"
.e +now that it depicts this because there is a buoy that is labled %NH,& an acronym for New
Hampshire" *he winners of both the Democratic and /epublican NH primaries are portrayed"
0anders is portrayed as the left motor boat because he is a left-win$ed socialist" *rump is on the
ri$ht because he is runnin$ as a ri$ht-win$ed /epublican" eefe also uses labelin$ of the boats to
say %ernie& and %*rump& to ma+e his depictions more eplicit" eefe puts a smaller boat in the
middle of the two in which there is a don+ey and an elephant" *he don+ey symboli'es the
Democratic party and the elephant symboli'es the /epublican party" *he don+ey is holdin$ a fla$
labeled %stablishment& and the boat is full of water" *his is used to show that ernie and *rump
are passin$ the establishment and lea(in$ their parties swamped" *he cartoonist doesn’t show
any bias towards either candidate or party as they are all depicted in the same way" *he o(erall
messa$e is that neither party establishment is happy about the results of the NH primary" 3nother
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messa$e is that ernie and *rump ha(e somethin$ in common4 neither remain within the rules of
their party establishments"
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February 3 2016 --New Hampshire Primary 21! by Da(e 5ranlund, Davegranlund.com
Da(e 5ranlund’s cartoon depicts the New Hampshire primary from the perspecti(e of New
Hampshire" *he maple tree represents the state of New Hampshire" 5ranlund uses labelin$ of a
si$n that says %NH Primary& as well as the labelin$ of buc+ets with all the names of the
Presidential candidates" *he 11 who are still in the race are tappin$ for the tree’s maple syrup,
while those who ha(e dropped out lay on the $round" *his symboli'es that e(ery candidate still
in the race is fi$htin$ for NH’s support" *he perspecti(e of the tree, or New Hampshire, is told by
the side caption that says, %6eelin$ a little tapped out7 & *his is a play on words because it can
be percei(ed as %tapped out& of maple syrup, as well as %tapped out& as in tired" 5ranlund also
shows that NH is tired by $i(in$ the tree droopy eyelids and circles beneath the eyes" *he o(erall
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messa$e is that New Hampshire is o(erwhelmed and made tired by the number of candidates
wantin$ its support" *he cartoonist’s point of (iew is that there are too many candidates runnin$
in the election for one primary to handle"
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February 9, 2016 -- New Hampshire Primary /esults by Da(e 5ranlund, Davegranlund.com
Da(e 5ranlund’s cartoon depicts the New Hampshire primary in an ironic way" *he caption,
%Primary results from the 85ranite 0tate’ 7 & reminds us that New Hampshire is +nown for its
$ranite" 5ranlund depicts a $ra(eyard with tombstones made of $ranite as a way of bein$ ironic"
.ritten on the tombstones is %*ruth,& %/espect,& %#i(ility,& etc" *his symboli'es the death of the
candidates’ (alues that has come with the NH primary" *wo smaller tombstones say %Hope& and
%*rust,& this symboli'es that death of (oters’ faith" *he o(erall messa$e of this cartoon is that
with candidates ha(in$ lost their (alues, (oters ha(e lost hope because they can no lon$er trust
them" ecause the bi$$est tombstone says %*ruth,& it is clear that 5ranlund thin+s that the
inte$rity of the candidates is the most important"
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February 10, 2016 --ernie 0anders .ins NH Primary by Da(e 5ranlund, Davegranlund.com
Da(e 5ranlund’s cartoon depicts the winner of the New Hampshire Democratic primary" He
portrays ernie 0anders s+iin$ 9uic+ly downhill to symboli'e his momentum" ernie’s scarf is
labeled with %ernie& in case his ea$$erated features aren’t enou$h to tell who he is" He also
wears %21!& on his chest as a symbol of the 21! presidential race" *he bac+drop of trees and
snow as well as the labelin$ of the tree to say %NH primary& clearly shows that the race that
0anders has won is the New Hampshire primary" *he mar+s in the snow leadin$ to ernie $o
around the tree that is in the middle of his path" *he tree is also labeled %Hillary& to show that
ernie has passed his obstacle or competitor --Hillary #linton" *he same s+i mar+s show that
ernie has $one strai$ht throu$h the tree" *his symboli'es the o(erall messa$e that ernie has
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%done the impossible& by beatin$ Hillary in the New Hampshire primary"
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February 10, 2016 --New Hampshire winners share one attribute: authenticity by Da(id Horsey,
Los Angeles Times
Da(id Horsey’s cartoon depicts the winner of the New Hampshire /epublican primary" He
portrays Donald *rump --one of the /epublican presidential candidates" Horsey portrays *rump
with ea$$erated features such as his hair and lips" *rump wears a red tie to symboli'e that he is
a /epublican" Horsey ma+es it clear that it is the New Hampshire primary by drawin$ trees,
stone and snow in the bac+$round" *he cartoonist also includes a caption that says %Ma+in$ his
mar+ in New Hampshire"& *his caption is a play on words because in the cartoon he is literally
ma+in$ his mar+ in the snow, as well as fi$urati(ely ma+in$ his mar+ by winnin$ the NH
primary" Horsey ma+es it clear that *rump is the winner by writin$ in the snow, %*rump .ins)&
*he footprints comin$ from *rump show that *rump was the one who made the mar+ in the
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snow" *his symboli'es the o(erall messa$e of the cartoon: now that *rump has won the NH
primary, he will play it up in order to $et people to focus on his (ictory in NH rather than his loss
in ;owa" *he perspecti(e of the cartoonist is that *rump has a $iant e$o, he shows this by
depictin$ *rump as o(erbearin$" 3s a Democrat, Horsey has let his bias show by depictin$
*rump as arro$ant --an inherently bad personality trait"
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February 10, 2016 --6eel the 0eism by #lay Jones, The Independent
#lay Jones’s cartoon depicts the results of the New Hampshire primary" Jones portrays
presidential candidate ernie 0anders as well as ill #linton --candidate Hillary #linton’s
husband" He uses labelin$ of %ernie& on a podium that says %New Hampshire,& to show that
ernie is the winner of the NH Democratic primary" ernie is surrounded by all of his supporters
that hold si$ns with his name and slo$an" Jones labels the man in yellow as %ill& to ma+e it
clear that he is Hillary’s husband" ill is sayin$ %3ll of this is seist& as a way of defendin$ his
wife’s campai$n to become the first woman president" *he cartoon has a humorous tone because
ill #linton has ne(er spo+e up about seism before, but now that his wife is runnin$ for
president, he suddenly decides to do so" *he o(erall messa$e of the cartoon is that the #lintons
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are
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February 5, 2016 --asich in New Hampshire by Nate eeler, The Columbus Dispatch
Nate eeler’s cartoon depicts asich’s New Hampshire campai$n" He portrays /epublican
presidential candidate asich and his competition, *rump and #ru'" eeler captions the cartoon
%asich in the 5ranite 0tate& to ma+e is clear that the man portrayed is asich" eller uses the
nic+name %5ranite 0tate& for New Hampshire" He also portrays *rump and #ru' cut out in
$ranite to ma+e up a mountain" *his symboli'es that *rump and #ru' are %set in stone& to be the
NH primary top two" asich is stru$$lin$ to climb to mountain, and is literally han$in$ on by a
thread" *his symboli'es that asich’s campai$n is unstable and lac+s supporters" *he o(erall
messa$e of this cartoon is that asich doesn’t stand a chance in the New Hampshire primary"
eeler’s percei(es asich to be wea+, at least compared to *rump and #ru'"
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Part II. Suary and !e"lection
The New Hampshire Primary is extremely important as its media attention has a lot of
influence on the voters in other states. Voters often look to New Hampshire to decide how to cast
their ballots when their time comes. Often times, the NH primary winners end up being the two
left in the general election. The collection of cartoons shows that Independents are thriving in our
political climate. Both Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump —the winners of the NH primary—
are traditionally independent but have joined the Democratic and Republican parties to give
themselves a better chance in the presidential election. The collection also shows that voters are
voting for the candidates who seem the most authentic. The collection of cartoons shows
multiple issues within the New Hampshire primary. They depict Bernie’s success, Hillary’s
disappointment and jealousy, and the swamped establishment. These cartoons also show the
problem of so many candidates still running. They claim that the candidates have lot their
values, and that Trump and Cruz are indomitable. All of the cartoons are matter-of-fact when
pointing out the winners of the primary, although Bernie is portrayed in a better light than
Trump. It seems the views expressed in these cartoons are mainly liberal. The general message
is satirical; the cartoons use irony and mock the candidates’ weaknesses. What I got from these
cartoons is that the establishment and the losing candidates disapprove of the NH primary results
—even though the losers’ reaction is to be expected. None of the cartoons attempt to be
persuasive in favor of a certain opinion but these cartoons have helped me gain insight on just
how valuable my topic is. Before this assignment I looked at the primary as a form of
entertainment to guess the winners. These cartoons have forced me to look at the primary from
different perspectives, including those of candidates, voters and the establishment. I think that
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the way the New Hampshire primary is depicted is relatable to anyone following the election, as
it shares insight that I’ve heard from the people that I’ve spoken to regarding the topic. Then
again, I haven’t spoken to any conservatives, and they make up at least an equal portion of the
United States. Above all, this assignment has taught me that what looks like a simple illustration
can turn out to have a more profound meaning.