In the cartoon there is a man holding and etch a sketch in his hands  His shirt says voters on the back.  The border of the toy has the phrase "Mitt Romeny's Core Principles."  In a speech bubble the man says "the knobs on the etch a sketch don't do anything."  This cartoon is referring to something Romney said recently in a campaign speech that a politician has right to shake up their profile and start a new, similar to how a etch a sketch erases a message.  This means that politicians make mistakes and that it is okay if they change their views to reflect what is prevalent in the country or if a significant and resonable event causes a politician to have an epiphany or atleast come up with a better solution to the situation at hand.  The real irony is that Romney has been considered a flip flopper.  Throughout the invisible primary and even up to the present, he has changed his mind on his pro-choice platform, on his immigration platform, and most especially on his viewpoint of healthcare.  The purpose of all this change is to move to the more conservative end of the spectrum and appeal to the ture conservatives of the Republican Party in the primary season.  The irony upon ironies is that the voter says that these knobs are not creating change in Romeny's ideological views.  This shows the naivity and uneducation of voters today.  They are not involved in politicis enough to know the backgrounds of the candidates or know exactly what they stand for.  The majority of voters do not vote prospectively or intelligently but on whims or due to bandwagon appeal.  This is definitely from a liberal standpoint or from Gingrich or Santorum trying to show the holes and gaps in the Romney campaing and Romneys ideas for improving the country in general.

     The title of the cartoon says "The Final Four."  Paul, Gingrich, Santorum, and Romney are all on a basketball court.  In college basketball, the top 64 teams in the country play in a tournament to compete for the national title and become the best team of the year.  The final four is when there are only four teams left, the semifinals, probably the most well known stage of the tournament according to the catchy phrase.  In the Republican horse race there are also four candidates left, however they are not evenly matched as depicted by the cartoon.  Ron Paul is playing croquet on the basketball court, clueless of what is taking place.  He is focused only on what he assumed they were gathered there for.  Gingrich is also confused, thinking that he showed up for a debate.  He is angry at the humiliation he is experiencing.  He is more alert, and standing up instead of slouching like Paul.  Gingrich has a determined look on his face to compete.  Santorum is the most prepared besides Romney.  Santorum is actually wearing recreational attire, and has a basketball to go along with his outfit.  Although he is still confused, beleiving that the basketball game was only half court.  On the contrary, Romney is wearing a complete uniform and jersey.  He is dunking a ball on stilts which is obviously against the rules.  This directly relates with the primary race.  Their spot in the race is exactly where they stand on the courts.  Paul is not worried about winning the nomination, but Gingrich lacks organization and elitist support, Santorum does not watch what he says, and Romney is at the top because he raises the most money and the best organization.  Romney is on stilts because Romney is not conservative enough, he is merely the defaylt candidate even if he does not follow the party platform, or the rule of basketball in this case.  This is from a independent ideological standpoint because this is an objective analysis of where the candidates stand currently in the polls and their amounts of delegates.

   In the cartoon there is a man flying off a mechanical bull.  The man's suit jacket has written the word "elections", while painted onto the machine it reads "super PAC money".  The man or politicians facial expression is worried.  He is looking at the ground searching for where he might land, while the mechanical bull is tilted, paused at the same spot the politicial was flung off into the air.  This symbolizes the dependency on super PACs.  All the candidates today have their own PACs, but the candidates are not to associate themselves with these fundraising organizations or even tell them what to do while they function.  The main super PAC that supports Romney is called Restore Our Future which has raised around 100 million dollars so far.  These PACs help set up ads on television and on the radio.  This cartoon is saying that if there were no super PACs or if the fundraising is not receiving enough donations, then the candidate is pretty much out of the race.  Money is the most important thing besides support when reaching for the nomination.  The PACs are churning out the most money they can like a machine and when the machine malfunctions then the candidate cannot get their message out to the public or retaliate to negative ads from other candidates.  This has does not have much of ideological tilt because it is fact.  Gingrich is doing so poorly because his donors are not contributing enough so it is difficult relating to the public or being featured on the media.      

Link to this page:
http://www.politicalcartoons.com/cartoon/e0b32c90-71e9-4530-9f65-d87d5caec638.html

     This cartoon is in general a critisism of Newt Gingrich.  The image shows Newt with a double chin, chubby cheeks, but small eyes, nose and mouth to go along with his large face.  He has crows feet on the edges of his eyes and in addition to the grey hair he appears to be old.  On the wall behind him there is graffiti with word "get out", "take a hike", "go", "enough", and "quit".  Gingrich's response to all of these suggestions is "What writing on what wall".  He does not want to except the fact that he is behind in the polls, almost at the level of Ron Paul.  He is only still in the race because his super PAC, Winning Our Future, is pumping in millions of dollars to run campaign ads and get out his true conservative views.  The slant of this cartoon is definitely conservative.  Some conservatives want the race play out and if it is Romeny and Santorum, with Gingrich out of the race, then it will be more likely for Romney to be battled and struggling to reach 1144 in delegates.  Gingrich is not as conservative as Santorum but he has taken away Evangelical votes from Rick and also far right wing voters.  Gingrich however is stubborn and keeps on claiming that he will stay in the race until Tampa, where the GOP convention will be held.  Gingrich is a beleiver put it is truly impossible for him to win the nomination at this point with so little delegates.

     The caption on this cartoon states, "A yankee campaigning in the South must remember three things; kiss babies, eat grits, and don't get the two mixed up.  Romney has been doing very poorly in southern states so far in the primary elections.  So far Gingrich has clinched South Carolina and Georgia, while Santorum has snagged, Tennesse and Oklahoma.  Romney has failed, but was able to win Florida which consists of a diverse population.  If Romney wants to seal the nomination and acheive the alottled amount of delegates, 1144 he must come up with a startegy to win those, or else his rivals will stick around too long, causing him some tough challenges up ahead.  This cartoon is obviously of the liberal ideology because it is mocking Romneys performance.  He is struggling to connect with the so called "true conservatives" and the Evangelical Christians.  Democrats want the nominating process ot play out so more negatives about the candidates appears in the media and from their rivals.  The cartoon depicts Romney eating a baby with its foot still hanging out of his mouth.  There is a lady in the back that says, "Well kiss my grits" which is relates to Romneys confusion in his strategy.  The irony is that Romney is seen as an imbicile, not able to connect to Americans.  Romney is probably the most intelligent of the pack, attending Harvard Law School as a part of his education life.  Losing a few states is not a precursor to his idiocy in the South, but just not enough time invested in the South.  His campaign is the most organized and it okay if the race plays out since he has a large lead.

 

     The caption of the cartoon says, "Kiss the Newt and I will turn into a conservative prince."  Newt Gingrich is a frog or kind of lizard sitting on top of a stone, which could be a grave stone.  Gingrich has disappeared from the leading position in National polls after North Carolina in the second primary however he has not had any other success besides his home state Georgia.  There seems to be a little diconnection between Newt and conservative voters.  What really hurt him was his last few performances in the debate.  When he was attacked dramatically by Ron Paul and Santorum, he did not have a comback and support his decisions that he made in the past.  He did not retaliate and acted as if he ignored the insult completely.  Newt had campaigned as the conservative alternative to Mitt Romney, however it appears that Santorum took his place.  If Gingrich does campaign strongly and takle every state with the same amount of honor and time he will definitely have shot bakc in the race.  The sole problem is that he needs to raise a lot of money which he is lacking from his supporters.  He needs to up his anty and campaign hard to gain more delegates.  The ideology is liberal.  It puts Gingrich in a bad light.  He is a wierd looking creature in this case.  The point of the tomb stone symbolizes that his character has died.  He is no longer a contender unless something miraculous occurs.  In real life he needs a helpful billionare donor, and in the cartoon he needs a kiss even with his atrocious appearance.  Gingrich is between a rock and a hard place and by the time he wiggles out of it Romney will have the nomination, unless Gingrich endorses his fellow competitior Rick Santorum.

On the verge of super tuesday

    The cartoon caption shown in the background says "Super Tues."  This sign has an arrow pointing to a voting booth.  There is a man at the back of the voting of the voter center.  A sign in book, to ensure identification as a US citizen and registered voter sits on the desk.  There is a speech bubble coming from the volunteer watching, but there are no words or even any letters or symbols in the bubble.  It is blank.  The irony of this is that the voter is focused just on placing a vote, a civil liberty, but being stubborn and ignorant of that man is the essence of problem caused by Republicans, they cannot decide who to elect.  The voter in this case is an elephant, the mascot of the Republican Party.  This pertains to todays political field because Super Tuesday, also known as the southern primary, is next tuesday.  History has proved that Super Tuesday has been a turning point in both the Democratic and Republican nomination campaigns.  There are hundreds of delegates up for grabs and this can either keep a candidates momentum up, and push that candidate to the party convention, or this date can pull conservative voters to an alternative, that may have been struggling to raise enough money to keep in the running for president.  This cartoon is of a liberal slant.  The elephant is all beat up as it approaches the voting booth.  He has a cast on right foot and one on his left arm.  His head even has a small bandage.  This shows that because of all the Republican debates, commercials, and speeches, the Republican candidates have been tarnishing each other, while destroying what the Republican party stands for.  What is a true conservative?  This competition can be considered horrible.  Obama does not have to criticize any of the candidates since the Republicans are dishing out insults and using negative ads to gain support.  With all these attacks and the economy rising, Obama is in an ideal position to defeat any rising Republican nominee, even if one is chosen the day after Super Tuesday.



     The caption, picture frame hanging on the wall, says "Michigan, Home Sweet Home."  The Michigan primary has just passed and Mitt Romney has emerged as the winner.  The media had predicted the week before this primary that Santorum had a considerable lead.  The irony is that Romney was born and raised in the state, his father was the Governor, has the home field advantage and would have been devastating to his demeanor as a candidate to loose the state he is very familiar with.  If Romney had lost Michigan, his momentum would have dropped dramatically and would be second guessed since his people would not even vote for him as a reliable and superior candidate.  The cartoon depicts Romney sitting on the couch, probably in the house he grew up in.  He is wiping the sweat from his brow with a towel in relief of what the results showed in the primary.  A thought cloud depicts the words, "Phew, that was close."  He only beat Santorum by a mere three percentage points, however both Romney and Santorum received the same amount of delegates, thus splitting the congressional districts.  Romney said in a conference later on that a "win is a win."  The ideology represented is neither liberal nor conservative.  This is a factual representation of what Romney actually felt and the word choice he used in his victory speech in Detroit.  This is definitely a plus for the Romney campaign, and he just dodged a bullet which could have taken him out of the number 1 position in the primary season.

GOP struggle

     In this cartoon, all of the five characters are Republicans.  All are stacked on each other, similar to a todem pole.  Newt Gingrich is on the top, followed by Donald Trump, Michelled Bachman, Mitt Romney and a fifth character whos name is difficult to transcribe.  Their goal as a team is to reach the microphone behind the podium that is named, "2012 Presidential Material".  Once they can speak into the microphone, if they ever elevate to that plateu, then they can give their party platform or atleast the objectives of the Republican Party.  However this group is most likely a variance from the true conservative values of the GOP.  The current problem is that their stack falls short, they do not have the length to acheive their goal at the final moment, but Gingrich shows hope.  He is the only one that is optimistic.  Gingrich adds that there is a posibility as long as their tower remains straigth.  The ideological perspective is more of a liberal slant.  A conservative voter would be confident that a republican candidate will eventually stick out from the mix, but this cartoon depicts candidates and their counterparts in a situation that is unsturdy.  It is a huge obstacle to rise to this height, and a dilemma of choosing a consistent candidate to represent the GOP.  One irony from the cartoon is that the heaviest man is on the top.  Newt Gingrich had his name on the spotlight, but for this exercise his mass belongs on the bottom of the structure.  Gingrich must be switched out of order, but no matter who the person on the top of the pack, it is not likely that they will reach the microphone to share their insights on becoming president.  If they cannot get the presidential material, their shot at becoming the next president is slim.

 
The title, "A Rising Tide Sinks All GOP Boats," encompasses the whole picture of the cartoon.  The three republican nominee hopefuls all have their own personall rowboat and are under water falling to the bottom.  Romney and Santorum are not blown out of proportion, but Gingrich is an overweight man is a seemingly smaller vessel.  Fish are staring at these strange creatures.  On the surface of the wavy water the word "economy" is written.  The message overall is that the GOP candidates are loosing ground.  If the economy keeps on improving, then president Obama looks more accomplished and succesful in his original goal of boosting the economy and bringing it out of the recession.  Furthermore, the Republicans cannot attack Obama as much in the general election debates when the time comes.  The ideological slant is definitely liberal because most Republicans would say that Obama has led a failed presidency, and that it is his fault that the economy is so low, and any positive effect is merely recovering what the incumbent caused.  One source of irony is the facial expression of the fish.  They can be seen as conservative citizens who are dissapointed in them.  They are giving the men blank stares and show no disbelief in their current situation.  This cartoon shows that the GOP is not happy with any of these candidates and it is apparent if a clear front runner does not arise then there is little hope of defeating Obama.

What Republicans want

     All that has taken so far has been exciting.  There has been drama even before the Iowa Caucus which hurt and helped some of the Candidates.  The silent primary eliminated three candidates from the field.  Michelled Bachman got off to a slow start in the first place and could not get that tea party majority she was hoping for, even in Iowa where she grew up.  Rick Perry was in the lead of the Iowa polls for a solid week, but dropped down immediately after a few debates showed that he was not a good speaker, was unclear, and had trouble arguing and being assertive against his rivals.  A similar event happened to Hermain Cain.  It seemed he spontaneously rose in the polls, and miraculously held the top slot for a long time.  He probably would have done well in the caucus, but sadly he had to deal with the past, and could not overcome allegations of sex scandals.  With the field cut in half, Mitt Romney prominently took the drivers seat and finally had that lead.  Romney who had hovered at 25 percent in Iowa could not reach new heights and barely outplayed Rick Santorum.  However this is a problem to the Republican universe.  Republican voters are looking for an individual who is new, not a dirty old politician, but one who can create progress, work with the congress and keep the conservative ideals throughout their presidency once they are inaugurated.  The census is that Romney is too moderate, more likely to succumb to the liberal side and compromise, and form a plan that does not contain the core values of "Republicans."  This is most clear when his health care plan implemented in Massachusetts comes up.  He made sure that all persons of that state recieved health care at a low affordable price, which is more of a Democratic view, using government intervention to help individuals instead of individuals working hard to survive, a more conservative viewpoint.  Romney has also had trouble connecting to the average American.  He supposedly "talks like a robot," answering questions automatically with seemingly no thought process.  He also is very wealthy, and even being a Mormon comes up with the rest of his impairments. 

see link http://www.usatoday.com/video/news/iowa-caucuses-who-will-win/1244179341001

Immigration & Romney

       Immigration has been a hot topic for almost all the debates that have gone on, from Iowa all the way up to the first Florida debates.  But why has immigration risen as an important issue in voters minds and for the candidates to address?  The main reason is jobs.  Most Republicans agree that illegal immigrants most likely will work for a salary lower than minimum wage, thus taking the jobs of the average citizen who has to be paid no less than minimum wage.  If these immigrants are cheaper to have in business then no Americans can capitalize on job oppurtunities.  As Santorum has said plenty of times, if they are in this country "they have probably broken more than one law," such as stealing someones social security number to get highered.  Almost all the candidates agree that the borders must be more secured to illegal immigration can be reduced rapidly.  However, each candidate has a different stand on what to do with those currently raising a family and helping a business out in the US. 
     Romney is known for flip-flopping on issues, and he has in fact changed his mind on immigration.  Romney thinks that those who have been born in America or raised from a child in America should remain, because the US is their home, what they are used to.  Romney has changed his opinion of those who have recently "hopped the border."  At first he thought they should be deported, but now he is more sympathetic by saying that most illegal immigrants will self-emmigrate, decide to leave since there is no prosperous job oppurtunities.  Romney takes the spotlight since part of his family did immigrate to the US from Mexico.  His family has obviously live the good life and wants immigrants have the oppurtunity to gain citizenship, start a family, get a job, be free, and contribute to the US economy.

see link http://video.nytimes.com/video/2010/11/01/opinion/1248069266155/immigration-and-the-elections.html?scp=5&sq=immigration&st=cse