campaign

Thursday November 17, 2022

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday November 17, 2022

Trump’s 2024 Announcement Was Totally ‘Sad!’

July 18, 2016

The first time Donald Trump announced he was running for president, he cruised down an escalator to Neil Young’s “Rockin’ in the Free World,” bragged about his net worth, mused about whether his family actually likes him, and called Mexicans “rapists.” There was no way Trump’s 2024 campaign announcement on Tuesday night at 9pm EST was going to beat 2015’s iconic, racist spectacle, but the event failed to meet even significantly lowered expectations. His 65-minute speech in the Mar-a-Lago ballroom was widely derided as “low energy,” and the biggest actual news to come out of the event was his daughter Ivanka Trump’s announcement that she won’t be involved in his political operation going forward. Here are some weak, weird moments that Donald Trump would certainly be mocking if this were any other candidate’s campaign rollout (and he still had a Twitter account).

July 22, 2016

Ivanka’s absence made headlines, but she wasn’t the only Trump who bailed on him. The former president couldn’t even get a majority of his children to attend the event. Per the New York Times:

In the audience were his sons Barron and Eric (whom Mr. Trump perhaps unwittingly compared to Al Capone and Jesse James in his speech), along with Eric’s wife, Lara. Also his son-in-law Jared Kushner but not Ivanka, who played a starring role during Mr. Trump’s term in office but has announced via an Instagram story that she is bowing out of Season 2. And not Don Jr., though his fiancée, Kimberly Guilfoyle, was there. As for Tiffany, she was presumably on her honeymoon after her marriage last weekend.

February 3, 2017

It’s not every day that a defeated president makes a comeback attempt, but the cable news networks didn’t feel the need to air his remarks in full. MSNBC didn’t air the primetime speech at all, while Fox and CNN cut away from the more-than-hour-long address after Trump verbally announced his candidacy. Fox cut away about 15 minutes later than CNN, and switched back to Trump for an additional few minutes after showing commentary from guests. And the major broadcast networks deemed Trump’s announcement less important than a spinoff of The Bachelor. ABC, NBC and CBS all decided to stick with previously scheduled entertainment programming — reality show “Bachelor in Paradise” on ABC, science fiction drama “La Brea” on NBC and a fictionalized show about the FBI on CBS.

August 7, 2020

Naturally, Trump’s speech was chock-full of false and misleading claims. But there were also plenty of simple mistakes. As The Independent noted, Trump referred to the lower chamber of Congress as “the House of Representators”; he promised to “ensure that Joe Biden does not receive four more years in 2020”; and he bragged that he “went decades with no wars” during his four years as president.

Security wouldn’t let people leave. He literally had a captive audience.

Former Trump officials bashed him on-air. When CNN’s Anderson Cooper asked former Trump chief of staff Mick Mulvaney if he thought the announcement was good for the GOP, he said, “No, I don’t, because I think he’s the only Republican who could lose.”

July 20, 2021

Mulvaney added that if Trump wins the GOP nomination in 2024, the general election will be another referendum on him: That means the 2024 race is not about Joe Biden or whatever Democrat is on the ticket, not about inflation, not about world events, not about abortion. It will be about Donald Trump, the same thing we saw in 2020. No one voted for Joe Biden. Everybody voted for or against Donald Trump. It was a referendum on him. That’s what we’re hurtling toward in 2024. And I don’t see the outcome being any different two years from now than it was two years ago.

Later on CNN, Sarah Matthews, who served as Trump’s deputy press secretary, described the speech as “uninspiring,” “boring,” and “a rambling mess.”

The Post added credence to a report that owner Rupert Murdoch is done with Trump, following up last week’s “TRUMPTY DUMPTY” postelection cover with this absolutely brutal write-up. (NY Magazine) 

From sketch to finish, see the current way Graeme completes an editorial cartoon using an iPencil, the Procreate app, and a couple of cheats on an iPad Pro … These sped up clips are posted to encourage others to be creative, to take advantage of the technology many of us already have and to use it to produce satire. Comfort the afflicted. Afflict the comforted.

 

Friday April 29, 2022

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday April 29, 2022

How Doug Ford’s budget sets the tone for his Ontario PC election campaign

For a guy who came to power in 2018 on a promise to rein in the size and cost of government, Ontario Premier Doug Ford is heading into his 2022 election campaign with a completely different pitch. 

May 23, 2019

That pitch can be seen in the Ontario budget tabled Thursday by Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy, a budget that he described as “Premier Ford’s vision.” 

That “vision” is in reality less a provincial budget than it is a Progressive Conservative election platform. In case there’s any doubt, Bethlenfalvy recited the PC campaign slogan “Get it done” no less than 10 times during his budget speech. 

Also, minutes after the speech wrapped, the legislature was adjourned until well after the June 2 election, so the budget won’t pass unless the PCs win a majority. 

Beyond the sloganeering, the budget’s tone and messaging appear crafted to assure Ontario voters that Ford and the PCs are not just willing to spend the money that’s needed on crucial government services, but actually eager to spend it, to the extent of actually forecasting a deficit higher than in each of the past two pandemic years. 

It also appears to be an attempt to persuade voters that Ford has been changed by the COVID-19 pandemic and that cutting government spending is no longer a big concern for the PCs.

Tuesday August 17, 2021

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday August 17, 2021

Erin O’Toole opposes mandatory vaccination for federal public servants, travellers

Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole said late Sunday he is opposed to mandatory vaccinations for federal public servants and instead prefers a regular rapid testing regime to keep workplaces safe from COVID-19.

July 21, 2021

O’Toole ducked questions for nearly a week about the Liberal government’s plan to implement a vaccine mandate for bureaucrats, transportation workers and most passengers travelling by air and rail, a program Ottawa says will help boost stalled vaccination rates at a time when COVID-19 case counts are on the rise.

O’Toole said the Liberal plan is a divisive one and Canadians instead “want a reasonable and balanced approach that protects their right to make personal health decisions.”

Rather than require public servants and travellers to get a shot, O’Toole said, if elected, he’d demand they pass a rapid test before going to work or boarding a bus, train, plane or ship.

“What they do not want is the politicization of the pandemic. Vaccines are not a political issue. To try and make them one is dangerous and irresponsible,” O’Toole said.

May 8, 2021

“We should be united on this, not divided, and Conservatives will not engage in this attempt to drive a wedge between Canadians.”

Asked later about the party’s position during a virtual press conference with reporters, O’Toole said that while Conservatives encourage everyone eligible to get a shot, “Canadians have the right to make their own health care decisions.”

“We have a reasonable and effective approach that respects Canadians” who cannot or will not get a shot, O’Toole said.

The Conservatives have been highly critical of the government’s handling of the immunization campaign and the procurement process for COVID-19 shots, suggesting for weeks that Canada was at the “back of the line” on deliveries, that the government “botched” the vaccine rollout and that it may not be “until 2030” that people are vaccinated.

After a slow start in the early months of this year, Canada is now a world leader in immunizations with more than 81 per cent of the eligible population vaccinated with at least one dose. But the pace of administering doses has slowed considerably since a blitz in April and May, with well below 100,000 first shots handed out each day.

Based on a CBC News estimate, more than 5.7 million eligible Canadians have still not received a dose even though there is ample supply in virtually all parts of the country. (CBC) 

 

Thursday September 26, 2019

September 26, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday September 26, 2019

Exclusive poll reveals ‘Doug Ford factor’ a big problem for Scheer’s Conservatives in Ontario

June 8, 2019

The “Doug Ford factor” that some federal Conservatives worried would hurt their chances in Ontario this election appears to be very real, and especially significant, suggests a new survey conducted in partnership between the Angus Reid Institute and Postmedia.

The poll shows that half of Ontario’s population sees their federal vote being swayed by the performance of Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservative government in that province — and most are not being influenced in a way that will benefit the federal Tories.

Among those Ontarians who say their federal vote will be affected by their impressions of Ford’s government, a whopping 85 per cent say the “policies and actions” of the provincial PC government will make them less likely to support Andrew Scheer’s federal Conservative party.

July 17, 2019

The “Doug Ford factor” that some federal Conservatives worried would hurt their chances in Ontario this election appears to be very real, and especially significant, suggests a new survey conducted in partnership between the Angus Reid Institute and Postmedia.

The poll shows that half of Ontario’s population sees their federal vote being swayed by the performance of Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservative government in that province — and most are not being influenced in a way that will benefit the federal Tories.

Among those Ontarians who say their federal vote will be affected by their impressions of Ford’s government, a whopping 85 per cent say the “policies and actions” of the provincial PC government will make them less likely to support Andrew Scheer’s federal Conservative party.

Twenty-eight per cent of those Ontarians who claim their vote will be impacted this way qualified the impact of the provincial PC government on their vote as “massive.” The next-highest “massive” impact reported was in Quebec, but with only 12 per cent describing it in such strong terms.

February 13, 2009

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal party has clearly sensed an opportunity to exploit the impact Ford is having in Ontario on federal Conservative support. Liberals have tried throughout the campaign to link Scheer to Ford. This week the federal Liberal leader lambasted Ford, calling him “Exhibit A” in Trudeau’s grim description of what he says Canada would look like under Conservative rule. “Families here in Ontario have seen just how far they are willing to go to help the wealthiest few,” he said in Hamilton, Ont. “How quickly they will make cuts to public health and to the services people rely on most.”

Trudeau’s Liberals have been the biggest beneficiaries from the Ford factor: Among Ontarians whose federal voting decisions are being affected by Ford, 71 per cent say they’re likelier to vote Liberal on October 21. But the Liberals would be wrong to assume they have those votes sewn up: 66 per cent of those provincially impacted Ontarians also said they were likelier to vote for the NDP. (National Post) 

 

Friday September 12, 2019

September 12, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday September 12, 2019

Did Trudeau really give ‘the largest’ waiver of cabinet confidence in history?

Forced to address the SNC-Lavalin scandal on the first day of the federal election campaign, Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau made a sweeping statement.

“We gave out the largest and most expansive waiver of cabinet confidence in Canada’s history,” he said in response to reporters’ questions about a Globe and Mail article that said the RCMP’s efforts to examine the SNC-Lavalin affair have been stymied by the government’s refusal to lift cabinet confidentiality.

But legal experts tell CTV News they’re not sure how Trudeau is measuring what he calls the most “expansive” waiver of cabinet confidence, let alone how true his claim is.

Some other examples from past years include former prime minister Stephen Harper approving confidence waivers for the RCMP investigation into the Senate spending scandal.

Harper’s predecessor Paul Martin gave the Gomery Commission cabinet documents linked to the Liberal sponsorship scandal that rocked Ottawa in the mid-2000s.

Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer also spoke about the SNC-Lavalin affair on the first day of electioneering.

“The RCMP is investigating into possible obstruction of justice charges in the prime minister’s office,” Scheer said Wednesday as he formally launched his campaign.

However, the Globe and Mail said Mounties want to thoroughly question witnesses as part of an “examination,” not a formal investigation.

The SNC-Lavalin affair has been trailing Trudeau for months, ever since former justice minister Jody-Wilson Raybould alleged that she was inappropriately pressured by the prime minister and his office to end the criminal prosecution of the Quebec engineering giant. (CTV News)