Bill Richardson resigned, but what about Hillary?

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson has withdrawn his name from consideration as commerce secretary for President-elect Barack Obama, citing an ongoing investigation into possible pay-to-play corruption in the awarding of a state contract to a company that contributed to Richardson.

So is Hillary going to be next to resign?

After all, she's involved in her own mini-scandal involving a developer in New York donating $100,000 to former President Bill Clinton's foundation in November 2004, around the same time that Hillary helped secure millions of dollars in federal assistance for the businessman's mall project.

So much for No-drama Obama.

Best of 2008 - National Cartoons

Everybody is releasing their "Best of 2008" lists, so I figured it was about time to post what I thought were a selection of my best national cartoons from 2008.

I'll post a separate list of my favorite New Jersey cartoons from 2008 soon.


While working for Politicker.com, I had the opportunity to "live-cartoon" election day, filing quick cartoons all day from Dixville Notch to Obama's victory speech.

You can check out the rest of the cartoons here.

I was always a fan of Tim Russert. I would love to say it was for his honesty and straight-forward earnestness, but it was his love of the Buffalo Bills and his desire for them to "squish the fish" that allowed me to first relate to him.

Did this cartoon on a Monday, and on Friday I was laid-off. I'm still waiting for my career as a psychic to take off. Call me Dionne Warwick!

Illustration for the New York Observer

Here's an illustration I did for the latest issue of the New York Observer, promoting their newest Politicker website, PolitickerNY.com.

In the illustration (from left to right) are New York Governor David Paterson, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, State Senator Malcolm Smith and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Here's the sketch:

Today's state cartoons - 12/4/08

NEW YORK


KENTUCKY

The Pantsuit is coming back!

To view a larger version of this cartoon, click here.

Convention Sketchpad, day three: Saying good-bye to the Clintons

To check out a larger version of this cartoon, and to follow all the cartoonists blogging from this year's Democratic National Convention, click here.

Convention Sketchpad, day two: Obama who?

To check out a larger version of this cartoon, and to follow all the cartoonists blogging from this year's Democratic National Convention, click here.

Convention Sketchpad: Day one

To check out a larger version of this cartoon, and to follow all the cartoonists blogging from this year's Democratic National Convention, click here.

Hillary Clinton and Ted Kennedy, McCain as Reagan

Check out this Ronald Reagan ad from the 1980 election, attempting to use the bitter primary between Ted Kennedy and Jimmy Carter to his advantage.



Seem familiar?

This week's Cartoon Caption Contest

Care to come up with a caption for this cartoon? Click here for the rules and prizes!

Today's cartoons - 6/3/08

Today's Pennsylvania cartoon

Voting Patterns: Race Still Matters
The Philadelphia Inquirer

A substantive debate... minus substance

This week’s Cartoon Caption Contest

Barack Obama is being labeled as an elitist by Hillary Clinton over comments he made at a private fund-raiser in San Francisco. Speaking of small-town Pennsylvanians, Obama said, “it's not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."

So what could he possibly be saying in this cartoon?

Come up with a pointed caption for this cartoon and email it to rob.tornoe@politicker.com, or click here to post a comment. Keep it clean (this is a family website) and keep it brief (brevity is the soul of wit). When you email, include your name and the name of the city and state where you live. Your deadline is noon Friday.

Good luck, and have fun!

Caption Contest Winner

Click here to view the winner and runner-ups for this week's Cartoon Caption Contest.

Today's cartoons 4/10/08

This week's Cartoon Caption Contest

I’ve been caught up watching the HBO mini-series “John Adams,” and I thought a good caption contest could revolve around what George Washington, John Adams or Thomas Jefferson would have to say about the current predicament the Democrats find themselves in.

Come up with a pointed caption for this cartoon and post it in the comments link below. Keep it clean (this is a family website) and keep it brief (brevity is the soul of wit). When you post, include your name and the name of the city where you live. If you wish to remain anonymous from others, simply email your caption idea to me at rob.tornoe@politicker.com. Your deadline is noon Friday.

We'll post the winner's name and caption here Saturday morning, along with several runner-ups. If you send us your name and address, we'll mail the winning writer a color print of the cartoon with the caption, signed by Rob Tornoe. Please allow at least 4 weeks for delivery.

If you have any questions or suggestions, feel free to email me at rob.tornoe@politicker.com.

Good luck, and have fun!

Caption Contest Winner

Hillary lets Nancy Pelosi know how far she'll go to secure the nomination thanks to the winning caption provided by Doug of Manchester, New Hampshire. A signed print of the cartoon is on your way.

Here are the runner-ups:

"I want a chopper, Michigan, Florida and more time on SNL or the jack ass gets it!"
- Chris from Stockton, New Jersey

"I didn't put up with Bill's crap to quit now!"
- Amod from Portland, Maine

Thanks for all your entries. Check back Monday for a new caption contest.

Some cartoons for you to chew on

Steve Brodner's The Naked Campaign: Three-Legged Race

Here's the latest installment of Steve Brodner's video series The Naked Campaign, which he does every week for The New Yorker.

They each are pretty good, but this one is my favorite, b/c we see more drawing and painting on his part. Steve's one of my favorite illustrators, and I'm going to try to channel him when I'm off covering the Democratic and Republican conventions later this year, something that he's done numerous times for Esquire, The Progressive and the Village Voice.