Doonesbury declares a winner
The Doonesbury strip for Wednesday is set in Iraq with his military characters sitting around a television as Obama is declared the next President of the United States.
Risky? Reckless?
Not for a cartoonist, but there's some discussion on the journalism listservs that suggests that this assumed outcome of Tuesday's election is a limb too far for newspapers.
I don't understand that concern, given Trudeau's cartooning history. I'm thinking that if McCain wins, the embarrassment is Trudeau's, not ours. Isn't there anyone who doesn't think he's liberal? Besides, if McCain does win, just imagine how much fun it will be to watch how Trudeau handles the turnabout.
The syndicate is offering a replacement strip -- reruns from August -- which would be even stranger to run next week, seems to me.
Thoughts?
Update: Trudeau responds at washingtonpost.com: If I didn't call the election, I'd have no premise for the week and be forced to write about something else. I didn't want to write about something else. This is history.
If Obama wins, I'm in the flow and commenting on a phenomenon. If he loses, it'll be a massive upset, and the goofy misprediction of a comic strip will be pretty much lost in the uproar. I figure I can survive a little egg on my face.
I agree with him.
Comments (13)
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US Military prefers McCain over Obama 3-1
http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/10/21/poll-troops-support-mccain/
Posted on October 31, 2008 10:46 AM
why wouldn't he do an identical strip showing mccain winning as a replacement? and maybe a third showing an a la 2000 "not again"...
Posted on October 31, 2008 10:48 AM
If McCain does win, newspapers will have a lot more to be embarrassed about than Trudeau will. The newsrooms have been playing with their Obama action figures for months.
This is not even a limb for today's non-objective newsrooms. Many alleged journalists use their personal agendas to shape coverage every day, and lazy, gutless editors do nothing to stop them.
Just like in 2000 and 2004, the coverage of the election has been abysmal.
Posted on October 31, 2008 11:15 AM
What would newspapers have to be embarrassed about, Wenalway? Do you think they are in charge of what cartoonists choose to address in their strips? There are a number of strips that I choose not to read in my paper, namely because they suck. What do I do? I skip right over them, just like anyone who doesn't like Trudeau's strip can skip over that. For a conservative or Republican to read Doonesbury next week, get all fired up and blame the newspaper is just like a liberal Democrat tuning in to Fox News, getting angry and blaming the cable company. Change the fricking channel.
Maybe you don't realize that newspapers pay for this content. If a paper has paid for Doonesbury, a political comic strip, then they should run the fresh content, let the chips fall where they may for Trudeau and hope that upset readers are smart enough to place the blame where it belongs.
Posted on October 31, 2008 12:02 PM
There's a shocker...
Posted on October 31, 2008 12:04 PM
If McCain wins the Presidential Election, what cartoon is run on Wednesday is going to be the least of our worries....that reality will lead to a civil war erupting in the streets of America fought along class lines.
Seriously...the only pathway to a McCain Presidency is dishonestly, voter fraud on a scale never before seen in the history of human kind.
The fat lady has sung, and this election is over. We are just waiting now for an official pronouncement on FOX News....LOL.
Posted on October 31, 2008 1:12 PM
"Seriously...the only pathway to a McCain Presidency is dishonestly, voter fraud on a scale never before seen in the history of human kind.'
(yawn)
Posted on October 31, 2008 1:22 PM
The problem with having two strips - one for McCain and one for Obama - is this; most newspapers now print their features sections two to three days in advance to save money on overtime costs for their print employees. So even if Trudeau were to offer alternative strips, the newspaper would still be at risk of being wrong because they would have to pick on Monday morning which strip is correct on Wednesday.
The simple answer would be that Trudeau shouldn't be taking a guess at the winner, but then that would make his strip less relevant. So, it's an interesting gamble all around.
Posted on October 31, 2008 2:20 PM
Gary Trudeau and his wife Jane Pauley have been publically against Republican and pro Democrats for years. He used to be funny but lost his humor years ago and now is just another polical opinion.
Posted on October 31, 2008 3:14 PM
"What would newspapers have to be embarrassed about, Wenalway? Do you think they are in charge of what cartoonists choose to address in their strips?"
Way to miss the point. I was referring to the agenda-driven news coverage, not simply the Doonesbury strip. And spare me the "You don't realize ..." stuff. If there is one thing the last few months have demonstrated, it's that far too many people don't realize the old, status-quo, "support the cordial dim bulb over the intelligent thinker" approaches have been a resounding failure. I'll take my realization skills over someone without reading comprehension skills any time.
Also, the previous post is dead-on correct. Trudeau lost his fast ball a while back. He and Berkeley Breathed need to go into comic strip retirement together. They won't be missed.
Posted on October 31, 2008 5:45 PM
When will the media-haters learn that national election results are not correlated with newspaper-tv news reporting bias? The results of the 2000 and 2004 elections should have made this clear. Reviewing the last 50 years of national election results are statistically significant on this fact.
Cartoons probably have an even poorer correlation with election results.
When was Doonesbury NOT a political cartoon strip?
God bless the law of cognitive dissonance.
Posted on November 1, 2008 12:16 PM
Garry - Escape to Canada while you can you half white frog. When whites are diluted with negros that makes them all negro. There is no half white you yellow belly frog.
Posted on November 1, 2008 3:27 PM
Wow, Dooncrap! Hate much?
Posted on November 3, 2008 10:44 PM