On October 11, 2016, USA News posted a political cartoon that referenced this year’s presidential debate. The picture is a scene of this year’s presidential candidates racing each other as their noses grow. This picture is meant to be a metaphor that critiques their corrupt and out of the ordinary race for presidency. The artist uses the words “Hillary in the Lead” above a drawing of two long-nosed runners to emphasize the irony of the picture. Hillary being in the “lead” is irrelevant because it is only a matter of time before a lie about one of the candidates comes up, changing the ratings. The artist uses coherency, color, contrast, and text to help convey the picture’s overall meaning.  

This picture was released to the public by a large news network. This means that the picture had a very large target audience and the coherence of the picture really helps it serve as an effective message to the people that it was intended for. Due to the picture having such a large target audience, it needs to be easy for an average person to decipher. In this case, it is intended for all American citizens. This picture displays two people running in a race. He puts the people side-by-side in running outfits to show that these two people are currently racing on a track. He uses the foot race as a metaphor for the political race. These two people are very clearly the democratic and republican nominees for the 2016 presidential race; Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. He puts Hillary’s name in the line of text above the drawings of the candidates, which confirms to readers that she is indeed the woman in the picture. He even puts a big ‘T’ on the shirt of Donald Trump, which symbolizes the first letter of his last name, in case there was any confusion. The artist made it clear to his audience by using enough detail to accurately identify them by their faces. The author uses a well-known child’s tale, Pinocchio, to serve as a metaphorical representation of the vast number of lies the two opponents have told and are trying to hide. Pinocchio is a fictional character who’s nose grows every time he tells a lie. It is very clear that the outcome of the foot race between the two people in the picture will be determined by how long the noses get. In other words, the candidate that lies the most without getting caught will win the presidential race. The metaphors associated in this picture are very easily derived thanks to the picture’s coherent features. The candidates are both trying to beat their opponent, and the best way to do so is to lie. The more they lie the further ahead in the polls they get, and the further ahead they get in the metaphorical race. He is trying to get the target audience to understand that the only way that these candidates can win is if they continue to cover up all of their lies, ultimately leading to a statement on how corrupt the government is. His coherent visual metaphors clearly convey his purpose to the target audience.

On top of the coherent style of the picture the artist uses his choice of color to add more layers to the meaning of his work. His choice to leave the background of the picture white is ironic. Traditionally, white is a color that is often associated with innocence and purity. White is considered to be the color of perfection. At the top of the background it fades to a very light blue to depict that they are outside, helping contribute to the coherence of the outdoor foot-race metaphor. The artist then uses the colors of the two different political parties on their respective candidates. The artist uses a blue that is similar to the shade of the sky for Hillary Clinton. He uses a very bold red on Donald Trump. He uses a dull light blue on Hillary to symbolize her passive attitude in the 2016 election. She has proven herself passive by not directly addressing the issues that Donald Trump is asking her to address and acting like they are nothing. One obvious example is the 30,000 emails that she was discovered to have attempted to hide and destroy. Hillary hasn’t proved to Donald, no matter how many times he asks her to, that the information disclosed in those emails was not confidential. She has proven to be very passive over the course of the election, trying to stay out of trouble by attempting to brush aside her past like it never happened. The light blue, as opposed to a more standard shade of blue, represents Hillary Clinton because it shows how she is trying to lay low and out of the social media’s crosshairs. She wants all of the focus to go to her competitor, and hopes he self-destructs. Donald Trump is represented by a bold, darker shade of red. This is very fitting because he is a very bold, confrontational, aggressive person. He proves this by speaking out against touchy subjects with a lot of force. Challenging Hillary’s 30,000 missing emails, proposing a stricter border patrol policy, and preaching against allowing Syrian refugees to enter the country, to name a few. Coincidentally, dark red is historically associated with vigor, willpower, leadership, and anger, which are most of the main qualities that Donald Trump shows in his campaign against his competitor Hillary. Red could also represent Donald’s aggressive tendency towards women, which is one of the many questionable and disrespectful things revealed about Donald in the presidential race. The colors that the artist uses to represent each candidate are very well thought out and they appropriately summarize the personalities and tendencies of their characters. The well thought-out color selection gave the audience, if uneducated on the mater, a general idea of the personality type that each candidate showcases in the election process. The underlying purpose of the colors used in the picture contribute to the overall meaning of the picture. 

The contrast in the picture is used to show the differences between the two candidates. Donald Trump is depicted in a dark shade that emphasizes his ominous presence in the light of social media. The shade that the artist uses for Donald is the darkest shade of a non-black color in the entire picture. Donald Trump having the darkest shade compared to everything else in the picture is used to remind the audience that Trump stands out as the person that everyone has their eye on. In a crowd of people, he is always the one that will stand out. Compared to Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton has a much lighter shade.  The contrast between Hillary and Donald suggest a difference in opinions and a rivalry between the two. Hillary and Donald are in a race and they are competing to win. The contrast in the colors contributes to the overall meaning of the picture by emphasizing how the two candidates oppose each other and are members of opposite sides. They will continue to lie and investigate each other as enemies until one of the two crosses the finish line, victorious or not.

The artist chose to place the phrase “Hillary in the lead” at the top of the picture above the two candidates. The addition of this short yet effective line of text successfully adds satirical emphasis to the overall meaning of the picture, making it more relatable and enjoyable to the target audience. This phrase is used to shine an ironic light on Hillary Clinton’s recent rise in the ratings. Although Hillary is ahead of Donald in the race, Donald appears to have not much more to hide (but who knows if that’s the case). Hillary’s nose is significantly longer than Donald’s nose, which suggesting that the only thing that is keeping Hillary in the lead is her lies. The line of text ties the meaning of the whole picture together by sarcastically pointing out that Hillary is in first place, suggesting that it is only a matter of time before the truth is discovered and they can no longer lie, causing their noses to shrink which would move them down in the polls. 

There are many features of this picture that help it communicate its overall meaning. This picture is meant to show the current presidential race as a race full of lies and investigations. The picture uses the noses of the candidates to represent their lies. This picture shows that, in politics, lies give you an advantage. Hillary being “in the lead” is irrelevant because it is only a matter of time before the truth of a lie emerges. If your lies are uncovered your nose will shrink and you will go down in the ratings. If you lie, you will gain a temporary advantage and your nose will grow until your lies get uncovered. The candidates are arguing for very different ideals but their personalities got in the way and now the whole presidential race has become primarily about hiding and uncovering lies, which is symbolized by the candidates noses in this picture. The color of the picture helps the audience get a general idea of the conflicting personalities associated with the two characters. The picture uses the contrast in the colors to emphasize their dramatic differences in ideals. The picture uses coherent drawings tied together with a satirical line of text to provide an easily understood yet thought provoking picture.
