I tell our cartoonists that if they draw urine in a cartoon, that editors won’t want to print it. Here I am, not following my own advice. I’m probably also inviting some angry mail.
I don’t think Trump shed any tears over McCain’s passing.
I didn’t agree with his politics, but McCain was an interesting and likable character and I usually drew him as a foil, suffering from events around him. McCain certainly suffered from his poor choice of Sarah Palin as his running mate. Palin, a hockey mom, made a joke describing the “difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull,” the difference was “lipstick.”
Obama picked up on Palin’s joke, and dissed McCain’s “change” mantra, calling it “lipstick on a pig.” We had weeks of lipstick cartoons, like mine …
The big thing I didn’t like about McCain was that he was a hawk, in favor of jumping into every conflict in the world. I remember him singing “Bomb Bomb Iran” to the tune of the Beach Boys’ “Barbara Ann.” Obama warned Syria’s Assad that using chemical weapons was a “Red Line”; when Obama didn’t attack Assad after the chemical weapons use red line was crossed, McCain fumed.
A big presidential debate was held on national TV at “Ole Miss,” the University of Mississippi; the university hired me to do art for the debate, for their program, posters and visual theme for the event. Here’s what I drew. It was fun to be a small part of this debate. (The art fades out at the top because that’s where the title graphics went.)
Palin liked to accuse Obama of “palling around with a terrorist,” at every opportunity. During the campaign in 2008, the economy crashed and we went into the worst recession ever as financial institutions failed around the world and threatened a second depression. Obama’s running mate, Joe Biden, described my cartoon below in great detail in multiple interviews for a news cycle, and Biden’s comments were spread all over the media. The economy suffered, but at least my cartoon had a good day.
McCain put Obama down for the fact that celebrities liked Obama, who had the support of Hollywood and rock stars and acted like a popular celebrity himself. the Republican base didn’t like Hollywood liberals, and didn’t like that Obama was perceived to be exciting while McCain was seen as dull. The cartoon below doesn’t make much sense now, but at the time Britney Spears had just shaved her head and was caught by a photographer getting into a car while wearing no underwear.
That sounds complicated now, but back then it was simple math.
I’ll miss John McCain.
