TOW #23- Visual Text: Political Cartoon

This political cartoon came from townhall.com. The cartoon was created by Lisa Benson, who is well known for drawing many other political cartoons. This specific cartoon was created after the 2012 presidential debate. It depicts a boxing rink. Within the rink, Mitt Romney is dressed in boxing gloves, boxing shorts and boxing shoes. Over Romney’s right shoulder is a sign that says “Round 1”. Besides him is an official with a stunned look on his face. In my opinion this symbolizes many of the American peoples reaction after the debate. Across from Romney is a knocked over stool which looks as if he easily knocked it over in one punch. The stool is meant to represent President Obama and how in many people’s opinions he was easily taken down in the first debate. This cartoon targets any U.S. citizen who can vote and also those people who watched the debate. Rhetorical devices such as pathos, ethos, logos, symbolism, and mood are used by Benson to convey this cartoon. In my opinion she accomplishes her purpose of showing the audience of how many people reacted to the presidential debate. They felt as if Mitt Romney knocked President Obama out of his chair as the audience looked on in awe.