The Duck Webcomics

It's campaignin' season!

HippieVan at 12:00AM, Sept. 18, 2015

3 likes!

Usually I try to keep my newsposts geared towards art/writing/comics, but this week I have politics on the brain!

Here in Canada our election is only a month away (October 19, 2015 – get out and vote, Canadians!). I just spent my evening at a packed little cafe where people had gathered to watch our federal party leaders debate. The campaign is 11 weeks long this election – the longest since 1872! – and election fatigue is definitely setting in among those who don’t get excited about politics. Even many of us who enjoy the horse race are beginning to feel inundated with all the terrible campaign ads. All the same, I was pleased to see so many people my age engaged in politics, out watching the debate tonight.

Of course, we have nothing on the Americans! Last night I stayed in to watch the Republican primary debate live. With over a year until the American election, the campaign in the States is already in full swing. I actually tend to prefer American politics to Canadian, because except for the odd junkie mayor here it’s always far more dramatic South of the border.

Are there big political events going on in your area of the world? To turn this back to comics – do you feel that your political views come across in your comic, intentionally or unintentionally? Are there any overtly political comics that you enjoy? (The image about is from an old Pogo comic, for those of you not familiar with the strip!) Or are you the kind of person who can't wait for an election to be over and done with?

—

Have a comic milestone, a community project or some comic-related news that you'd like to see here? Do you have original art for our newspost image database? Send it to me via PQ or at hippievannews(at)gmail.com, or leave a comment below!

tupapayon at 12:31PM, Sept. 20, 2015

Political expression is very important... I'd be very suspicious of the country whose government has no opposition... sometimes we don't realize how close we are from having a dictatorship... everywhere... vote, express your views... put them in your comics...FIGHT THE MAN!... ok, too much...

usedbooks at 12:26PM, Sept. 20, 2015

Look on the bright side. After the elections, we get to hear what inane conspiracy theory the party that lost will make up for why the party lost (aside from getting fewer votes, that's just crazy!).

Jamie59 at 6:50AM, Sept. 20, 2015

I'm really tired of the sh*t. Our election is 14 months off & it seams to have gone forever already. Oh for only 11 weeks.

usedbooks at 3:35PM, Sept. 19, 2015

I just posted "Keep Cool with Coolidge."

KimLuster at 7:06PM, Sept. 18, 2015

U.S. Politics...! I'm Libertarian, but a Libertarian candidate never has a chance!! There is no way any candidate that advocates lessening the power and reach of the central gov't is gonna win... Not until the voters get super-pissed, and that's still a few decades away (still LOTS of apathy), and even then entrenched and bloated gov't bodies aren't gonna willingly give up any power without a fight, meaning there will likely be some level of violence... Perhaps I'm a bit cynical when it comes to politics ;) Related: I love modern media... Yeah, the gov't can spy on us better than ever, but we can also spy on them!!! When a few emails sent on the wrong machine may keep a candidate from even getting nominated when she was a strong front runner - that's power in the people's hands... An informed populace is hard to suppress - why do you think censorship is so important to dictatorships! Fight censorship!! :) "He Dicho!!!"

bravo1102 at 9:19AM, Sept. 18, 2015

Whenever someone goes on about how dirty campaigns are now I just tell them about 19the century campaigns and for the media bias. remind them that parties used to own newspapers.

HippieVan at 8:59AM, Sept. 18, 2015

@bravo: I hear you on the electorate having no memory! I think that's a frustration for anyone who has studied history. I often find myself following current debates and wanting to shout at people "YOU DID THIS ALREADY!"

HippieVan at 8:57AM, Sept. 18, 2015

@usedbooks: I think that's a great idea! :P I would definitely appreciate some of those showing up on my newsfeed.

@Banes: I know who I'm voting for, but I'm not terribly excited about the choices. I have big problems with all of the major candidates, especially their failure to put forward solid environmental plans and their repeated appeals to the "middle class," while those living in poverty go completely unmentioned.

usedbooks at 6:44AM, Sept. 18, 2015

With all the political meme stuff in my FB newsfeed, I think I want to start posting political cartoons from the 19th century. Just to mess with people.

Banes at 6:41AM, Sept. 18, 2015

I dig political satire/concepts in comics. Not necessarily about specific people, but about the political direction of a society or country.

Banes at 6:40AM, Sept. 18, 2015

I'm with you, Hip - interested in the Canadian and American Elections (though I haven't watched the latest debates yet). The Canadian version is interesting, with three parties very close to even in the polls. I already know my preference on the American side, but am still waffling a bit in my own country's election. One guy is stronger on an issue I care about, while the other seems slightly less artificial (though to be fair, in campaign season, most everyone is playing a game and it's harder to see the reality behind the strategy).

bravo1102 at 5:49AM, Sept. 18, 2015

I'm old enough to have read Pogo first run. So I have been through lots of elections but honestly the first primary isn't until January why has there been two debates already? You know how many surges and falls there are going to be before a single vote is cast? The nominee could be the guy who has the smallest poll numbers right now. He (or I'm hoping she) could come out of nowhere and suddenly be front and center. I don't pay close attention but I do keep my ears open. And I remember that in any poll of the worst president of all time the choice is always the current occupant of the White House. The electorate has no memory. And too many are blind little lemmings walking in lockstep with their party. Or they have one issue and it doesn't matter how awful the candidate is on everything else, they're with me on that one issue! Right Iranian nukes will rain down on the Great and Lesser Satan but hey we got gay marriage and a woman's right to choose to use some examples seen on FB.