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Guns, God, gays, gas and Old Glory

Posted by: Mayor Melissa on September 5, 2008 at 6:03AM CST

Guns, God, gays, gas and Old Glory. These are the topics that get QCTimes.com commenters riled up. Not incidentally, they are also the buzz words of U.S. elections, the fear-inspiring topics that get out the vote.
Tuesday evening at Cafe Landtmann in Vienna, political cartoonist Chan Lowe used humor and satire to explain to Austrian journalists why these issues define presidential politics.

"We don't choose our president based on political platforms," Lowe said. "Fear always trumps a positive message."
Since 1984, Lowe has been drawing 350 cartoons a year for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. It was his county that made the butterfly ballot and hanging chads infamous in 2000. His politics lean left, but his pen skewers Republicans and Democrats equally, especially when their words and actions contradict each other.
"I suppose the question you most want answered is, 'How did you manage to elect Bush, not once, but twice?'," Lowe said in his opening remarks. His answer: Republicans were simply better at spinning the "Five Gs" in the last two elections. And Americans were dumb enough to be taken in by it.

Lowe said he took a lot of grief for this cartoon. He also told us he was not allowed to draw an anti-Bush cartoon for six months after 9/11. In November 2001 he brought a sketch to his editor and was told, "It's not time yet."

That assessment may seem harsh to you, my American readers. But his cartoon on the Pennsylvania primary reveals some undeniable truths about how we make decisions in the voting booth. The flannel-wearing, blue-collar Joe's thought bubble reads, "I don't approve of women who go to bars and drink boilermakers... On the other hand, he only bowled a 37..."
It's hard for Austrians to believe that A) candidates are willing to look foolish in an attempt to prove they are "regular" guys and gals, and B) that such stunts work. They are also baffled that the race between Barack Obama and John McCain is so close. As many a European has told me in the last two weeks, if Europe could vote, Obama would win by a landslide.
And yet, the very fact that Obama is so popular in Europe hurts him back home.
"It turns out Americans don't care what Europeans think about Barack Obama," Lowe said. Foreign opinion is as much to be feared as foreigners in the minds of a xenophobic electorate, posits Lowe.

That sentiment was confirmed Wednesday afternoon by Florida State Rep. David Rivera, speaking to foreign journalists via video conference from the Republican National Convention.
"I want to thank Austria and Europe for the welcome they gave Barack Obama," Rivera said. "I think that began his decline in the polls here in the U.S. It's very dangerous for a candidate - particularly a Democrat - to cite support from the rest of the world."
There's no doubt in my mind that the average European has a better grasp of the international implications of the U.S. presidential election than the average American voter. The Atlantic, Pacific, Canadian and Mexican cushions - wall or no wall - insulate us. We are free to be single-issue voters if we so choose, even when electing the leader of the world's biggest super power.
"There's a fine line between patriotism, nationalism and chauvinism," Lowe said. "We often cross that line in America."
As one of only 80 full-time political cartoonists in the United States, there's no better job security for Lowe.

This final cartoon below made me laugh. I'm sure other folks back in Iowa can relate, too.

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(4) Comments

Posted by: Anne-Marie Hislop on September 5, 2008 7:05AM CST

It is sad, indeed, that the popularity of a potential president overseas is somehow a negative and something to be denegrated. How do we feel when our president is booed and demonstrated against in every state visit? Do we really relish that?

While I understand that we elect our president on his/her merits (or should), and not on popularity abroad, there is something twisted about the idea that popularity abroad is a negative. What is wrong with our president being seen as a true world leader - one who is respected and liked around the world?

Posted by: David Heitz on September 5, 2008 12:47PM CST

Very interesting reading.

Posted by: marismom on September 5, 2008 2:54PM CST

I love political cartoons. The wittier the better. Sometimes I come up with really good ones, but I can't draw very well.

I really like the one that ran after McCain picked Palin that showed Palin as a baby being held by McCain. The artist put the same hair and glasses on the baby head it was cute. I also liked the one portraying Hillary as the big sister who wasn't getting the attention because her little brother Obama was the cuter one.

There is always someone protesting the US for some reason. The reason Obama is seen as popular oversees is because he's the first black man (which everyone is excited about) and he hasn't ticked anyone off.

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Back from Austria. Writing about America again. Some international tidbits thrown in for good measure.

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