Thursday, 4:30 PM
Romney makes strip
By Jenna Russell, Globe Staff
He famously depicted Dan Quayle as a feather and Bill Clinton as a waffle. He rendered both presidents Bush invisible and gave the elder Bush an evil twin called Skippy.
Now, "Doonesbury" cartoonist Garry Trudeau has taken aim at a new target: Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, who made his first appearance in the long-running comic strip Monday. In a series of cartoons scheduled to continue through this week, Romney is needled for what critics call flip-flops in his positions on abortion, gay rights, and gun control.
The former Massachusetts governor, who says some of his positions have evolved over time, has been dogged by doubts about his conservative convictions because of past statements of support for legal abortion and gay rights, and his recent decision to join the National Rifle Association.
Though the cartoon makes fun of Romney -- one to-be-published strip suggests that the only thing consistent about the Republican is his leading-man looks -- the exposure is likely to help him, said one professor of history and politics.
"The jokes and criticism are out there already," said Julian Zelizer, a professor at Boston University. "His goal now is to become a national figure, and this kind of satire, being in cartoons, is a good thing."
