Cartoon #5

Through out this election there has been a lot of slandering, mudslinging and even name-calling. This cartoon says “The candidates sum up their positions on the issues of pressing concern to Americans…” So what would we expect and want them to say in this situation? We want to hear that they are going to do whatever they can to make sure that this election is a success and we want to hear about how they feel about the final issues that need addressing—and what do we get? “George W. Bush!” and “Karl Marx!” There are two messages portrayed within this. First, each has an important and “negative” political figure they are compared to and will allegedly be no different from. Second, are the reasons for comparing these people to them. First of all Obama is campaigning for change from our current government. His strategy is to say that McCain will be no different from George Bush because he agreed with him on 98% of all the issues. McCain is comparing Obama to Karl Marx who is “credited” as the founder of Communism [look at the entry “Obama: The Next Karl Marx” to find out more]. Both of these are put in negative light. What the candidates should be doing is talking about what they can do to better the country but instead they are bringing down the other candidates.