Auchtoon!

Not published

This was going to be the editorial cartoon in this Saturday’s Press. Unfortunately, my editor decided against it. Well, unfortunately for me (I was really pleased with the drawing — got Justin Amash’s lips just right), but fortunately for my editor. You see, my point in this is that Justin Amash, the Republican candidate for the Grand Rapids’ area congressional district, needs some definition. He’s a young guy who, after being a state rep, is running for congress for the first time, and he is likely to win this traditionally Republican district. Amash has big potential, but he also hews a line often to the right of previous representatives (re: Gerald Ford, Paul Henry, Vern Ehlers).

I’m not passing immediate judgment, but his website does read very much like Sarah Palin’s but without (to his credit) the cutsie “mama bear” stuff and cloying need to be part of pop culture. So I dressed him in a Palin-esque suit, wig, and glasses to draw attention to their political similarities and let readers decide how they feel about it. No labels, no arrows, and with some subtly. But subtly doesn’t work all that well in the weeks before an election. And the likely result? Letters and phone calls demanding to know “why your cartoonist is saying Justin Amash is a transvestite!” My editor would be the one getting those, not me. The dress. All certain folks would see is the dress. So I came up with something different. Buy a Saturday Press and let me know what you think.