Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories

Cartoon rivalries bring levity, and familiarity, to the election

Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote

Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote have a lot in common with our presdiential candidates.

BSR Entertainment/Getty Image

Corbin is professor emeritus of marketing at the University of Northern Iowa.

According to the April 12-16 NBC News survey, 52 percent of voters have somewhat or very negative feelings toward President Joe Biden, while 53 percent of voters have the same notion about former President Donald Trump. To make matters worse, Americans’ interest in the Nov. 5 election is the lowest since 2008.

Maybe it’s time to spark up interest in the election by bringing some comedy to the situation. First — with assistance from Greg Daugherty of Money — let’s review some cartoon characters who, via their creators, have actually announced a presidential candidacy. Then we’ll examine a few fictitious cartoon rivalries. One or more of the following may remind you of Biden or Trump. If a cartoon-related Biden-Trump 2024 rivalry doesn’t seem to develop, then the following is a jog through memory lane, good for any soul to do from time to time.


The Greatest Generation (1901-1927), the silent generation (1928-1945), baby boomers (1946-1964), Generation X (1965-1980) and millennials (1981-1996) may recall the cartoon duo Mutt and Jeff. Despite their strikingly different heights, they broke the cartoon-character-as-presidential-candidate glass ceiling as running mates in 1908. Their every-four-year-run for presidency ended in the 1980s. Many Americans would concur that the phrase “Biden and Trump are as different as Mutt and Jeff” is apropos.

Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter

Pogo, created by cartoonist Walt Kelly, first ran for office in 1952. The 1952 “Pogo for President” campaign rally at Harvard University turned into a riot. Pogo’s quadrennial candidacy ended in the 1970s and is known for the saying “We have met the enemy and he is us.” A presidential rally turning into a riot rings a bell, doesn’t it?

Another fabricated candidate who sought office against Dwight Eisenhower and Adlai Stevenson in 1956 was Alfred E. Neumann, Mad Magazine’s mascot. Among Neumann’s campaign slogans was the infamous “You could do worse, you always have!” Many voters would claim that applies to recent elections.

In 1960, Alvin the singing chipmunk ran for president during the John F. Kennedy-Richard Nixon competition. Kennedy welcomed Alvin to the race by remarking, “I’m glad to know that I have at least one worthy opponent.”

Snoopy, the beagle of the “Peanuts” comic strip, ran for president in 1968, 1972, 1976 and 1980. In 1980, Ronald Reagan wrote to cartoonist Charles Schulz stating, “anything you can do to talk Snoopy out of running will be appreciated. How would he feel about a cabinet post?”

According to WatchMojo, there are quite a few cartoon rivalries that have entertained us for years. See if one or more of the following cartoon characters resemble Mr. Biden or Mr. Trump.

Democratic and GOP presidential candidates try to attract voters in their own unique manner, just like Popeye and Bluto (aka, Brutus) have fought — for 92 years — over Olive Oyl. Biden and Trump also seek the appeal of women voters, but in a strikingly different manner of grace, poise and decency.

Since the 1940s the rivalry of Tom and Jerry has been intense; they can’t agree on anything (just like Biden and Trump). Jerry is an overconfident good guy while Tom is about winning at all costs. Sound familiar?

For decades, Elmer Fudd has been purposefully chasing after that “wascawwy wabbit” Bugs Bunny. But thanks to his disguises and the various tricks up his sleeve, the rabbit always survives. This begs the question: Which of this year’s presidential candidates is most proficient — like Bugs Bunny — at disinformation, misinformation and propaganda?

In the “SpongeBob SquarePants” TV series (1999-present), Mr. Krabs and Plankton have continuously been fighting over the Krabby Patty recipe. Plankton keeps trying to steal back the recipe while Krabs is focused on revenge, retribution and greed as he really, really loves money. Any presidential candidate come to mind?

My favorite cartoon rivalry is Road Runner vs. Wile E. Coyote (1930-1969). The devious coyote uses complex contraptions from the Acme Corporation to catch his prey, with each conspiracy backfiring. Put into a forced-choice comparative decision, Biden is Road Runner, constantly on the run with continual attempts at bipartisan legislation and international peace making. Meanwhile, Trump is Wile E. Coyote. Trump’s 343 merchandise opportunities (e.g., $40 MAGA hat, $59.99 Bible, $200 sneakers, etc.) are available at the Trump Store and not Acme Corporation.

If nothing else, this rundown may have given you time to reminisce, relax from the struggles of daily life, laugh and ponder the similarities between comedy and presidential candidate similarities before realizing that on Nov. 5 voting will be no laughing matter.

Read More

Tracy Chapman and Luke Combs on stage
Tracy Chapman and Luke Combs perform "Fast Car" at the Grammys.
Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for The Recording Academy

Luke Combs, politics and healing our nation's divide

Nevins is co-publisher of The Fulcrum and co-founder and board chairman of the Bridge Alliance Education Fund.

It’s been a year and a half since I wrote about “The Great Divide,” Luke Combs' song written by Naomi Judd, Paul Overstreet and John Barlow Jarvis. I was moved by the tremendous response I received, and that article is still one of The Fulcrum’s most-read posts.

The lyrics are as powerful today as they were in November 2023:

Keep ReadingShow less
Taylor Swift singing on stage
John Shearer/TAS24/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management

Taylor Swift: 'It's basically saying don't lose hope'

Daley-Harris is the author of “Reclaiming Our Democracy: Every Citizen’sGuide to Transformational Advocacy” and the founder of RESULTS and Civic Courage. This is part of a series focused on better understanding transformational advocacy: citizens awakening to their power.

In my last writing, I discussed how Taylor Swift’s first involvement in politics (during the 2018 midterm election in Tennessee) was prompted, in part, by her harrowing experience in a sexual assault trial. That year Swift endorsed Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn’s opponent in Tennessee’s U.S. Senate race, Rep. Jim Cooper (D). It wasn’t an easy decision.

“I’ve been reluctant to publicly voice my political opinions,” she wrote in an Instagram post, “but due to several events in my life and in the world in the past two years, I feel very differently about that now. I always have and always will cast my vote based on which candidate will protect and fight for the human rights I believe we all deserve in this country. I believe in the fight for LGBTQ rights, and that any form of discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender is WRONG. I believe that the systemic racism we still see in this country towards people of color is terrifying, sickening and prevalent.”

Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter

Keep ReadingShow less
Young woman doing stand-up comedy

Laughter is the embodiment of depolarization.

FG Trade/Getty Images

What role does comedy play in pulling us together?

It’s no secret that pop culture in America has amazing healing and connecting powers. Throughout history, we’ve seen how artists, entertainers, athletes and creators of every kind invite us into a space of transcendence that leads to connectivity. We see that when we join people together their energy can be harnessed for good, and then amplified and scaled.

Certainly comedy fits in perfectly. Laughter is the embodiment of depolarization. Just consider that in order for something to evoke laughter, it has to have the capacity to both hold tension and release tension at the same time. And so we invite you to join Bridge Entertainment Labs tomorrow at 4 pm Eastern for “What’s Making Us Laugh? What Role Does Comedy Play in Pulling Us Together — or Driving Us Apart?”

Keep ReadingShow less
Amanda Gorman

Amanda Gorman recites a poem during President Biden's inauguration.

Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

April is National Poetry Month, and our democracy needs her poets

Nevins is co-publisher of The Fulcrum and co-founder and board chairman of the Bridge Alliance Education Fund.

Poetry runs strong through the veins of our American heritage, and what better time to celebrate the connection between democracy and poetry than in the month of April, National Poetry Month.

Our democracy needs her poets from the past and the present.

Keep ReadingShow less