Exemplar: Political Cartoon Analysis
Context of the Political Cartoon:
This political cartoon is commenting on the “bailout” of US industries by the US
government during the financial crisis of 2008-2009. The US government paid billions of
dollars to industries responsible for the financial crisis to keep them from collapsing
altogether. The US government used money from the US treasury and the US taxpayer to
pay these industries. The action of the government was highly controversial.
Techniques of the Political Cartoonist:
Labelling: the artist labelled numerous things in the cartoon, like “US treasury” on the cow
and “AIG”, “Banks”, etc on the buckets. without these labels, it would be impossible for the
viewer to know what these pictures represented.
Analogy: In this cartoon, the artist compares the bailout to a farmer milking a thin, sickly
cow. These things are not alike in real life, but the artist is pointing out that they are similar
in that Obama and the US government going to the taxpayers for money is like a farmer
going to a sick cow for milk: it is not good for the taxpayers or the cow.
Symbolism: There are several symbols in this political cartoon. The cow symbolizes the
US treasury and taxpayers. The buckets represent the industries hurting from the crisis.
Exaggeration: The artist slightly exaggerates Obamaʼs appearance, but this does not
seem like a major aspect of the cartoon.
Irony: Irony is the difference between the way things are and the way things should be. In
this cartoon, it shows Obama milking the US treasury when it is weak. The author
believes this is what is happening and the cow is in danger of dying. In real life, things
should not be this way. The artists believes that the treasury should keep its milk (money)
and be healthier.
Overall opinion of the artist:
This author is attacking Obamaʼs policy of helping these industries out. The artist believes
that putting the US treasury in danger to help out these industries, many of which were
responsible for the financial crisis in the first place, is a bad idea.
"Milking the Cow Dry." Cartoon. Shake the Baby. Star Tribune. Web. 29 Mar. 2011. <http://
www.shakethebaby.us/img/090323.dry.cow.jpg>.