MCCAIN VS OBAMA

As I was breezing past the requisite mystery/suspense schlock designs of the summer I noticed a growing presence of political books, which is no surprise given that November will be upon us soon. Sarah Palin has one called Sarah: How a Hockey Mom Turned Alaska’s Political Establishment Upside Down. She wears red, she’s white, and her name is blue. Very original. There’s Bob Woodward’s The War Within, no pictures, just type. Red, white, and blue. And there’s a lot more which I won’t cite because you’ll get bored.

Then I came across two books that induced said gag reflex. The first was My Dad, John McCain. The cover is a watercolor picture (you guessed it, in red, white, and blue) of a slightly younger John McCain embracing his young daughter (vomit has evacuated system). Overlaying this image is a smaller photo showing the even younger military John McCain to remind us there was a day he was actually easy on the eye. My initial reaction was, I guess the republican IQ is slipping…their propaganda has been relegated to a children’s book approach. I then noticed the benevolent square shape of the book and realized that, yes, it was meant for children aged four through eight.

The second book was Barack Obama: Son of Promise, Child of Hope. This too used a friendly square shape, and the image was not unlike a graffiti art mural painted on the side of a Brooklyn bodega. In the foreground, a young, crudely rendered Obama seems to be floating in an impossible space over a sand castle that he proudly rules over. Behind him is the all grown-up Obama with hands open as rays of light radiate from his inner sanctum. The title, writ large in art deco type, barely has enough space to differentiate Obama from his surname and if you weren’t careful, you might read it as BARACKOMANIA. And, naturally, the color palette is—everyone together—red, white, and blue.

The idea that we’re cutting down trees so we can brainwash children to support mommy and daddy’s political party is insane. But I’m not here to review the content or purpose, just the covers. That said, the watercolor approach for John McCain reminds us of the children’s books of fifties white America. The bright, spray paint/airbrush look of Barack Obama reminds us of inner-city urban art. So, although both artists masterfully captured the essence of each candidate’s style in a child-friendly way, it doesn’t change the fact that my vomit is red, white, and blue.