Political Cartoon Analysis Entry #6

Obama vs. Romney 2012 Prom
The title of this cartoon is, “Obama vs. Romney 2012 Prom” and was created by Dave Granlund. In the cartoon is a caricature of Romney and Obama wearing tuxedos with a corsage. Obama’s corsage is blue and Romney’s is red. The colors of the two corsages represent the political party they are a part of. The location of the two corsages can also represent each man’s political ideologies. Since Obama’s corsage is on the left side, the viewer can say that Obama is a liberal and since Romney’s is on the right, it could symbolize that Romney is conservative. Both Romney and Obama are linking arms with the Statue of Liberty who is wearing a “women voters” paper. The Statue of Liberty looks frightened. The cartoonist seems to be making fun of the process of obtaining certain voters during major election years. In this case, Romney and Obama are both trying to gain the votes of women voters. The cartoonist is calling it “Prom 2012” because he feels that the person who gets the most women voters will win the presidential election. Since both candidates are male, it is as if they are asking the women to prom. In this case, not having a date to prom is compared to not winning the presidential election. The viewer can tell that the two men are Romney and Obama because the one that looks like Obama is holding a card that says, “Obama” on it while the one that looks like Romney is holding a card that says, “Romney.” The cartoonist is trying to portray the message that those running for president will do what ever it takes to become the president such as fighting over one person. It is kind of funny because two men are pulling on the Statue of Liberty as if she were a toy. Obama and Romney seem to be using women as a pawn in their little game. This relates to current political event because everyone knows that Romney is the Republican nomination to run against Obama for the presidency this year. This relates to class because throughout the year, we have been discussing the Republican candidates and predicting which one would run against Obama in November. Finally, the time has come where we know which candidate would be the lucky winner and that candidate is Romney. The cartoonist is using satire by comparing the election to prom as well as comparing the women voters to the Statue of Liberty. His ability in using satire has provided a clear message of the cartoonist’s beliefs about the election.

Romney and Women Voters

The title of this cartoon is, “Romney and Women Voters” and was created by Jimmy Margulies. In the cartoon is a caricature of Mitt Romney saying, “Why can’t I attract women? I thought they like it when a guy brings flowers…” He is saying this with a grave in front of him with the words, “Planned Parenthood Funding,” written on the tombstone. The viewer can tell the man is Romney because the man is wearing a button with the word, “Mitt” on it and the man looks like Romney. The artist is trying to portray the idea that Romney is not getting the support from women voters because he is not funding the Planned Parenthood organizations due to the fact that they provide women with the option of abortion. Planned Parenthood does not only provide the option of abortion which is why women are angry with the fact that there is no funding for this organization. Planned Parenthood provides women who are unable to afford medical check-ups such as mammograms. It seems the cartoonist is more of a liberal because many conservative voters agree with stopping the funding of this organization. This relates to current political event because Romney is most likely the Republican candidate who will be running against Obama in the presidential election. If he is unable to get the support of the women voters, he most likely will not win the election. This relates to class because we have discussed many possible ways that the candidates could gain the votes of different types of voters as well as the entire election process. This cartoon is ironic because Romney gave flowers to a grave which is what he believes women wanted. Ironically, giving flowers to a grave of Planned Parenthood is not what women want and he seems to be naive to this fact. It is also ironic because as he is talking, he has a smile on his face. If I were him, I would be sad that I would be unable to attract the women voters. Overall, the cartoonist was able to portray his message through the use of irony in his cartoon.