During this process we have concluded that the cartoonists like to portray the Republican candidates in an unflattering way. In the current cartoons very few artists have chosen a favorite candidate or portrayed positively one candidate. Consistently the cartoonists exploit the negative aspects of the candidates. They like to blow certain issues out of proportion. Because of these tactics the cartoonists often can mislead the uninformed voters to believe in their opinionated cartoons. Common framing techniques among the artists include facial exaggeration like the way Mitt Romney’s hair is perfectly shaped and has large eyebrows. There is also the physical appearance exaggeration like how Newt Gingrich is always short and fat. The iconic style exaggeration is seen in how Rick Santorum is always wearing a sweater vest. The candidates also become labeled during the editorial cartoon process like how Ron Paul is a libertarian racist and Santorum is a religion extremist. The cartoonists like to also use pop culture references to prove a point like using the TV show Mad Men, comic character poison ivy, the biblical Red Sea story, the American Gothic painting, and the KKK. In cases like ‘Obama-Care,’ birth control, finances, personal affairs, and taxes political cartoonists use these current issues and the stances the candidates support and point out the faults or irony in the statements spoken by all candidates. Most cartoons are used to either get a laugh out of someone or get people riled up. They want a reaction. The human species is lazy. Political cartoonists use this to their advantage. They know people will read a cartoon before a well-researched and balanced article. The cartoon will sway people to make an immediate judgment based solely on assumption rather than fact. Depending upon the political beliefs of the paper, the cartoonist will support that position for job security or readership. Whatever sells a newspaper first will be the target of the political cartoon.
