Tom Toles political cartoon

Tom Toles began his career as a cartoonist working for The University at Buffalo’s student newspaper The Spectrum (which I also worked for, for a semester in college). He also worked for The Buffalo News (where I interned for a semester, in D.C.) for a time before taking his current job at The Washington Post (where I will probably never work, but would surrender a toe for the opportunity).

In 1990, Toles won the Pulitzer Prize in editorial cartooning and is syndicated in newspapers across the country.

His cartoons often focus on politics and matters of national interest, while attacking them with a keen social edge. A self-described liberal, Toles usually avoids making directly biased statements in his cartoons (though he has managed to make former President George W. Bush look right foolish on occasion).

What makes them particularly funny is his ability to be fresh and imaginative, taking an often complex issue that may receive great play in the media and reducing it to six frames, such as this cartoon for today’s Laughasaurus post from last year’s election:

Laughasaurus worthiness:

This Toles cartoon from last fall meets the cut because of its reductive impression. It is not biased for one to comment on former GOP nominee John McCain's, perhaps, frantic scramble to come up with reasons why he was the better candidate.

In six frames, Toles follows the progress of McCain's sometimes negative campaign on to his defeat, showing how ineffective negative campaigning can often be.



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