Tag: Mitt Romney

The Dog Ate Newt’s Notes

I just was listening to Rachel Maddow commentary on the fact that  last night the Newt Campaign released files on his work with Freddy-Mac.  But: they couldn’t find some of them. And apparently, there are no notes, records, written or otherwise, about what he actually did for them. Did the dog eat them?  What do we do with Newt, then? Do we give him another chance? Do we mark his grade down, do we call Callista and see what the truth is? None of this will work, sadly.

Simulataneously, I was looking through my files for a cartoon to post today.  I did this one last week with no obvious thought in mind of politics. But maybe subconsciously I was thinking about politics. I feel like we are in grade school with the GOP field. Doesn’t each of those guys remind you of some guy you hated in High School?

Newt, the know-it-all tubby creep who always seems to wear the same clothes and talks back to teachers;

Mitt, the awkward rich kid who thinks everyone loves him and who you catch looking in the mirror frequently,

Ron Paul, the nerd who won’t stop telling you all about stuff he thinks is important because he knows of no other way to talk to a girl,

Santorum, the religious nut who is looking for people to tattle on.

It would be fun, if it weren’t so scary. No, actually it is fun, I take that back.

 

Runaway Rhetoric

I drew this cartoon after I heard the phrase used by a pundit, something about being pulled into another’s rhetoric. This is what politicians do. They repeat and repeat until we believe them. They say what the pollsters think people want to hear, and drill it back to them.  They take opponents words out of context and quote them so often, that it seeps into people’s consciousness. “Mitt likes to fire people” is one such example of a phrase taken out of context in the recent New Hampshire primary circus. Maybe he does, maybe he doesn’t (he probably does)–but it is an idea/phrase that will stick in some people’s minds, even if they know it was used incorrectly.

Not that it matters at the moment, for it seems Mitt will be the GOP nominee. But maybe we will hear Obama using a version of that phrase. Let’s hope he comes up with some new rhetoric, I am ready to be wowed.  I’m sure his people are working on it as we speak.

Surging Huntsman

If I were a Republican, I would find Mr. Huntsman very attractive. It’s not news that he’s classically handsome, and if I were a Republican, I would find it difficult not to gravitate towards him. If only for his looks. What else is there to go on? Why not make a choice based on looks? Heck, at this stage of the game, they are all not telling the truth anyway.

The lukewarm attitude towards Mitt reminds me of a cartoon of mine that The New Yorker published in 1983. You can just insert Mitt Romney’s name in the fortune cookie caption.  It’s about the Democratic Presidential nominee Walter Mondale, and the cartoon reflects the tepid feelings towards Fritz by the Democratic party. I don’t recall there being such a circus back then as we have now, however. Also, parenthetically, this cartoon was my second sale to The New Yorker, and my first political cartoon for them.

Sarah, Michelle, and Newt

So we have two confirmed candidates in the Republican party, Ron Paul and Newt Gingrich. My first thought is, can we have a president named “Newt?”   I found it interesting that Mr. Gingrich, as advanced in age as he is, immediately sought to make his age a non-issue by announcing his candidacy on FB and youtube. He’s hip, we are to think.  At least his staff thinks they are.

What I look forward to seeing is what the little girls in the cartoon above are thinking. While I am not sympathetic to the Republican cause, I am nonetheless happy to see candidates who are women stand up strongly to candidates who are men. Plus, it would make great theater, don’t you think? Throw a little Trump in there, mix it up with a dash of Huckabee and garnish with Mitt. You might like it spiced with Jindal or Rudy. And, of course, Pawlenty on the side.