Political Cartoon #1

1. This cartoon was drawn by Tom Toles for the Washinton Post.

2. I immediately gravitated towards this particular strip for both its taking advantage of presidential candidate Rick Perry's recent debate blunder and wealth of humorous, caricature depictions of the primary GOP candidates. From my own visceral knowledge, I would say the candidates read, from left to right, Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul, Mitt Romney (I found his particularly funny for whatever reason), Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry himself, and I suppose Herman Cain, though it's difficult to ascertain. The cartoon essentially represents the Republican party's inability to decide upon a particular candidate in response to various candidate scandals and fluctuations in public polling. Toles adds "kind of like their governing philosophy" to reflect the GOP's growing ambiguity in specific party policy in response to growing candidate falters.

3. Toles utilizes humorous caricatures to emphasize specific visual aspects of each candidate, serving to make each clearly recognizable while reflecting a particular aspect of the individual's personality as well. The elephant clearly serves as a representation of the Republican party as a whole in response to a horse race journalist.

4. As stated, the cartoon deals with Rick Perry's recent inability to name the three institutions he would like to cut in addition to the party's constantly changing poll results and developing ambiguity in universal policies.

5. The GOP remains incredibly uncertain regarding its potential presidential candidates, and through them has faced a seeming identity crisis regarding their own policy.

6. Toles appears to be quite clearly liberal in his critical depiction of the party runners and insightful side note.

Question 1: Rick Perry

    While my current perception of Perry is somewhat influenced due to my witnessing his now historical debate blunder live on national television, I'll do my best to assess his standings, policies, and efforts to appeal with the common American public. Admittedly, I feel Mitt Romney is practically guaranteed the GOP nomination, as although he has proven to occasionally lose terms with a specific ideology, his integrity remains relatively unmatched, proving successful in maintaining a strong foothold among the other candidates without proving truly noteworthy or unique in his campaign objectives.
    Despite a dwindling public reception, Perry remains a priority in the media for numerous reasons that could very well result in his unexpected acquisition of the GOP candidate seat. Initially inheriting George W. Bush's seat as the "accidental" governor of Texas, Perry has proven incredibly influential in his unexpected involvement with the state's development. Perry has been able to draw from successful Texan legislation as a blueprint for widespread American development, consistently referencing the state's impressive unemployment developments. In addition, Perry's strong appeal among strong conservatives and Tea Party members cements his support from the far right in addition to widespread recognition in his governed state.
    As referenced, Perry has fallen victim to numerous backlashes to his campaign, most recently his inability to properly name off three agencies he proposed cutting (Commerce, education, and that third one.) Perry's substantial conservative basis has gradually deteriorated, including his supporting a Texas law that allows the children of illegal immigrants to qualify for in-state university tuition rates. Rather unfortunately, such minuscule blunders may prove incredibly influential in the common public perception of Perry, who with Cain has witnessed the gradual rise of Newt Gingrich and prevalent steadfastness of Romney as the Republican forerunner.