2012 AMERICAN PRESIDENTIAL DEBATES THROUGH AMERICAN POLITICAL CARTOONS =

Abstract

ABSTRACT The 2012 American presidential debates have been one of the events attracting great attention from people both inside the United States and outside its borders. Besides the large number of related editorials that report and share critical comments and judgments of well-known statesmen and scholars, political cartoons are considered the most popular channel to express public opinions on the debates in a rhetorical way thanks to striking visuals together with stylistic elements within a single frame. Though interpreting hidden messages conveyed by cartoons is a challenging work, it can help readers understand more deeply about the American political culture, especially how politicians in the U.S. are criticized through images together with just a few words. The study has been an attempt to find out how political cartoons viewed the 2012 American presidential through the use of rhetorical devices and the issues reflected. A qualitative analysis was employed as the method to analyze 25 cartoons about debates. The analyses examined the political cartoons based on two main points: public attitudes towards the candidates as well as debates and the criticisms of the proposed policies by the President and the former Governor, which reflected that the American people seemed to favor Obama over Romney under the eyes of cartoonists. Moreover, both dosmestic and foreign policies of the two candidates were giving great cause for Americans’ concern.