...And the dawn of a brand new day in America.
I know that all of my fellow Canadians who have supported Obama (and we are legion!) will now join me in wishing the American people well and expressing our immense gratitude to all of you who have shown the courage and good judgment in electing this man as the next President of the United States of America. Bravo!
Yes! Send that bimbo back to Alaska!
ReplyDeleteThis is my generation's victory. We got our asses out there in droves and administered this blow to the GOP hacks.
I knew you'd have a caricature ready!
ReplyDeleteAwesome, Pete.
Amanda was saying you probably did one of McCain aswell, just in case ;D
Kewl. This should be a definite improvement over the current presidential situation. Great carricature, Peter, as per the norm
ReplyDeleteAwesomeness Pete!! I'm really looking forward to see what positive changes America will make with Obama leading them~
ReplyDeleteI just watched his acceptance speech. Man, that guy is awesome!
ReplyDeleteI'm still waiting to see that Sarah Palin caricature, Pete :D
ReplyDeleteHooray for Obama! So glad he won.
Ding Dong, the witch is dead!
ReplyDeleteYeah, it was a great speech. Certainly a step in the right direction. Good luck and congrats to all you USAers out there!
I have never been this excited (except for maybe when our family got a Super 8 movie projector in 1977....)
ReplyDeleteToday was fantastic. The whole experience with the long line of enthusiastic, friendly folk at my polling place this morning - to the thrill of tonight's outcome. Jody and I watched the returns come in with hundreds of other excited people at the Edison here in Los Angeles (Pete, when you visit here next, I'm taking you there.)
In spite of what you undoubtedly hear about Americans and their deep patriotism, I've never really felt it myself until tonight. I think we really did something good.
What a beautiful suprise you drawed!!!With Obama Change begins making history.I'm happy he won!!
ReplyDeleteThanks again
when I saw him speak last night, it gave me those good kinda chills, you know? speaking about the America we all have heard of but not the one I've ever witnessed. Hopefully his abilities will shine through and there will be alot to see in the next 4 years.
ReplyDeleteBut those US campaigns put our 5 week elections to shame eh?
It's always tough to really get excited about any politician for me. Yes Obama seemed very different to me 4 years ago when he was the star speaker at the DNC and interviewed on the Daily Show. But over the past four years I think it was quite obvious to me that he moved away from that persona and more towards becoming electable. I certainly didn't follow the process as closely this time around, but he seemed to become less and less of what I liked about him to begin with. Up until Palin was named as McCain's VP nomination, I would've voted for him. But when you decide to align yourself with someone who believes that the earth is less than 5,000 years old, you have to question their logic.
ReplyDeleteI'm very doubtful that anything major in the US will change, but they'll obviously be a lot less corruption and secrecy.
And at the end of the day, you have to ponder over the logic of spending billions of dollars to run the thousands of campaigns all over the country when the economy is so horrible. Sure they picked the right guy, but did they need to spend a billion to decide that?
And that's my pessimistic post of the day!
Gee, Kevin, that is pessimistic! But you do make some valid points.
ReplyDelete"But over the past four years I think it was quite obvious to me that he moved away from that persona and more towards becoming electable."
And that is the inherent problem in the game called politics. One has to tread very narrow lines in order to appeal to a wide spectrum of the electorate, unable to say clearly what it is you do indeed stand for and believe in, lest you scare some voters away. Barack Obama had to keep tempering his "liberalness" as his campaign progressed, even to the point of leaning to the right a bit on some issues in the hopes of picking up the undecided voters.
McCain had to do the same thing. As Bill Maher has noted, John McCain was not the same presidential hopeful that he was back in 2000. Back then McCain was more independent-minded, which did not sit well with mainstream Republicans, who quickly dismissed him in favour of George W. Bush, who would be more willing to do their bidding. We're now paying the price for that 8 year mistake. This time around, however, McCain had to tell Republicans, particularly the right-wing evangelical types, what they wanted to hear in order to be accepted as the frontrunner in this race. He needed to count on their votes if he wanted a chance to win this election.
Here in Canada's own national election, Stéphane Dion lost out because he didn't play the political game well enough. He kept his Green Shift plan at the top of his agenda, even though his advisers told him Canadians wouldn't place the long term environmental concerns above short term economical concerns in this fiscally troubled time we're currently experiencing. They were right - Dion was wrong. And look at where he is now. For the record, however, I supported Dion and voted for him precisely because I was impressed with him having the courage of his convictions. But most Canadians don't want to vote for somebody who gives them the bitter truth, and instead only think of their own short term interests.
So, yes, politics is very much a game, and a shrewd politician knows that he has to compromise his true beliefs and tell the voting public what they want to hear in order to get elected. Once in, though, then there is the chance that one can maybe fulfill some of their own agenda. But you need to get your foot in the door first. Frankly, I don't like the "game" any more than you do, Kevin, but the reality of that situation is not really the fault of those who run for public service. I place the blame squarely at the feet of we, the voters.
By the way, it's great to see so many of my current and former students chiming in on this topic. One accomplishment Barack Obama can already take credit for is re-engaging the "disengaged" youth and getting them inspired enough to vote in what would appear to be record numbers in this election. That's no small feat in itself. Hopefully, the fact that Obama was the more heavily supported among younger voters should convince you that your vote does count and that your voice can be heard.
ReplyDeleteHi Pete, this is a spiffy image as always. (Although were his jacket shoulders really that wrinkled in the reference footage? ;-) )
ReplyDeleteI voted bright and early in a senior's home "media room" heavily bedecked with Hollywood portraits. My voting booth featured a poster of THE THREE STOOGES golfing. I couldn't help but think of Cheney, Bush & Rove. (I know that's grossly insulting to the Stooges).
Now...how about a drawing of Victor Buono in ROBIN & THE 7 HOODS?
you got 'em pete!
ReplyDeletegreat likeness as always:)
bj
Hahahaha!! Man, when are you going to do a caricature I DON'T like? ^_^
ReplyDeleteI always love the way your lines just flow together, yet the form is still solid! This is a marriage of things I have yet to grasp in my art. ~_~*
I just added you as a link on my blog because I only recently realized you had a blog ^_^* Yeah, I am really slow on this networking stuff.
Pete,
ReplyDeleteThey should use your caricatures as the official White House portraits!
And as someone who didn't vote for Obama (a rarity in our profession I know) he is my president now and I'm willing to give the guy a chance (although I'm not expecting to be bowled over). Kinda sounds like your situation when Mr. Harper was re-elected Eh?
Carlo - Hey, what Obama may lack in jes' plain folksiness, he more than makes up with in intelligence! Trust me, he's going to do some very good things, only don't expect miracles overnight. So come join the rest of us in his fan club. Though I should warn you - once you go Barack, you never go back. :)
ReplyDeleteWill - I'm glad to hear we're on the same page politically. Rest assured that about 75% of we Canucks are also breathing a collective sigh of relief since last Tuesday night.
BJ and Trisha - Nice to see you former Sheridan rascals still hanging around this old curmudgeon's cave. Drop in whenever you like to talk about good cartoons and such!
Hey Pete,
ReplyDeleteI love you my friend but you are mistaking "intelligence" for a polished ability to speak off a teleprompter. I would take the straight-talking hockey mom over the sweet-talking community organizer any day of the week it was just a shame that Sarah Palin wasn't at the top of the ticket. Trust me, neither Obama or McCain were any "great shakes" to pick from. Both were going to take us to hell-in-a-handbasket, it was simply a question of which one would get us there first. It's just unfortunate that America elected to get on the "express train".
THIS IS AWESOME! One of my favorites forsure.
ReplyDeleteJust noticed a simarlarity of how u draw hands and Al Hirschfeld drew hands...was he an influence on ur style?
ReplyDelete