Local cartoon round-up

Here are a couple of recent cartoons. The top one is from Maryland, where 1st district Republican Congressional candidate Al Harris, after defeating 2 strong candidates in the primary, now sets his sights on democrat Frank Kratovil in the general election.

The bottom cartoon is from Oregon, where Congressman Greg Walden seems to be the talk of the state as a possible candidate for Governor in the 2010 election.

Today's cartoons

Here are today's cartoons. Check them out. Discuss. Enjoy

Brief Applause: Editorial Cartoonist Chip Bok

This video is back from July last year, but I only recently came across it, so I thought I'd share it. It's a short documentary about Chip Bok, the editorial cartoonist for the Akron Beacon Journal.

You can check out his blog here.

More cartoons for your weekend blues

Here are some recent cartoons that will hopefully tide you over until next week. I've started blogging on our new national Politicker site, and eventually this whole blog will be moving over there. If you want to check it out, you can click here.

Here are some recent posts:

Larry David answers the Red Phone

Bill Watterson: Editorial Cartoonist

Today's Maryland cartoon

A couple of new cartoons

Hello everybody! Sorry about the lack of posts. With the primary going on, and new stuff at work, I haven't had the time to update it.

One thing that's going to happen in the next couple weeks is I'll be migrating this blog over to the Politicker's national site, where I'll continue to post my cartoons, as well as sketches, materials, and my commentary on other cartoons and fun stuff going on in politics. It should be a blast.

Stay tuned.

Estabrook: Uhhh....Duh Duh Duh?

Anne Estabrook, candidate for the GOP nomination of the U.S. Senate seat to run against Frank Lautenberg, evokes Ronald Reagan here as she can't seem to figure out what her position on gun control is.

Good thing they didn't ask her about Iraq.

Hillary Clinton: Crisis Manager

Click on image for full cartoon

Hillary Clinton is back to her old tricks, pulling out the red phone straight from the Walter Mondale campaign and attempting to scare people to vote for her:



Good thing she's running against a candidate that can think on his feet, and respond to these things swiftly:



Here's the sketch:

Bill Clinton on Hope and Fear...in 2004

Just found this great video, and I thought I'd share. It's Bill Clinton in October 2004 speaking on behalf of John Kerry on the politics of fear vs the politics of hope.

Nevada: Jim Gibbons' Love Life

Click on image for full cartoon

Sorry I was slow to post this, but it's been a busy last couple of days. But on Friday, I posted a cartoon over on PolitickerNV.com about the rumors swirling about Governor Jim Gibbons' possible divorce of his wife. They are holding a family meeting in the governor's mansion this instant, and we'll see what the outcome is tomorrow.

The Las Vegas Gleaner had this to say:

"(If) the nation's scurviest governor is willing to consider the possibility that sometimes there comes a point where it is better to end a marriage rather than cling steadfastly to a commitment for commitment's sake, perhaps he might also be persuaded to rethink his "no new taxes" pledge."

Best Picture Ever

Don't know who this is, or what team he plays for (I'm sure I'll get a comment from one of my two Brazilian soccer-nut former roomates), but this picture brightened up my night.

I just we had similar photographic coverage of this:

Michael de Adder

Over on his blog, Darry Cagle has a collection of cartoons from Michael de Adder. Michael is the latest editorial cartoonist to loose his job, but is unique in that his whole paper, the Canadian Halifax Daily News, is being shut down.

Here's some of what Michael has to say about the closing:

I worked at the Daily News for seven and a half years. It was a good environment to draw editorial cartoons. Editors let me do my work and wanted me to cause a stir each day. They encouraged hard hitting, opinionated work. A rarity at today's newspapers.

Oregon: Greg Oden Joins Obama's Team

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Barack Obama might have gotten his tallest endorsement yet, because 7-foot-tall Greg Oden has thrown his Ohio Buckeye support to the presidential candidate, leaving Hillary Clinton wheezing for air.

Senator Obama is getting my vote
Greg Oden - Yardbarker

New Jersey: Let the Mighty Eagle Soar

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Well it looks like former Attorney General John Ashcroft will have to sing in front of congress after all.

According to the New York Times, Ashcroft agreed to testify about a multimillion-dollar no-bid contract steered to his consulting firm by Chris Christie, the U.S. Attorney for New Jersey, under an out-of-court settlement between federal prosecutors and a medical-supply company.

Speaking of him singing, seems like a perfect opportunity to remember this:

Maryland: KKT Ejects to Safety

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Looks like superdelegates aren't the only ones abandoning Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign.

Former Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend also knows when to get out while the gettin' is good.

Kennedy Townsend urged Clinton to quit after Wisconsin loss
PolitickerMD.com

Sarah Silverman hearts Jimmy Kimmel

I just read an article in the NY Times about Sarah Silverman and Jimmy Kimmel. Apparantly, for Kimmel's fifth-anniversary show on January 31, Silverman produced this video as a gift for Kimmell:



Well, Kimmel responded with his own video on Sunday during Kimmel's post-Oscar broadcast:

Jon Arbuckle Left to his Own Devices

Who would have guessed that when you remove Garfield from the Garfield comic strips, the result is an even better comic about schizophrenia, bipolor disorder, and the empty desperation of modern life?

Got word of this from the Daily Cartoonist. It's a great blog called Garfield minus Garfield that takes Garfield out of his strips, leaving Jon Arbuckle to make sometime funny, something crushing comments about life.

Check them out here.

Nader's Audacity of Hope

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Our old friend Ralph Nader has decided to enter this year's presidential election, and once again the Dems are pissed. They're afraid of a repeat of 2000, when Nader seemed to siphon off just enough votes from Al Gore to hand the election over to George W. Bush.

But have they forgotten about 2004, or are they blaming John Kerry's lost to Nader as well?

Who's Afraid of Ralph Nader?
New York Observer

Arizona: Rick Renzi Will Not Resign

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Arizona Congressman Rick Renzi's decision not to resign has shocked most observervers, especially after being indicted on 35 counts of wire fraud, extortion and other charges last Friday.

Republican Congressional leader John Boehner (R-OH) has urged Renzi to step down, but Renzi Larry Craiged him by saying he is not guilty so has no reason to resign.

How this will affect John McCain is unclear. Renzi was one of the Republican candidate's co-chairs, and McCain campaigned for Renzi during his re-election.

Why Renzi is not resigning
PolitickerAZ.com

A forced Renzi resignation could hurt GOP
Politico

R. Kelly's 'In the Closet'

This has got to be the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen. Did Randy Newman write these lyrics?

And when I was watching it, I thought it was just a long video. But it's a feature-length movie!!!

McCain's Looking...His Age

Click on image for full cartoon

I did something a little different with today's cartoon. Instead of inking the pencils like I usually do, I just tightened them up a bit and scanned them, and went directly to color. I'm always inspired by artists like Richard Thompson and Mike Luckovich and the expressiveness of their linework, and frankly it's something I can't seem to do with ink.

So I thought I'd try it with pencil.

Here's just the cartoon's pencils, without the color:



And here's the sketch: