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 Mugwumps

 


 “Honest Republican Voter”
  Cartoonist:  Unknown
  Source:  Harper's Weekly
  Date:   October 11, 1884, p. 673

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Complete HarpWeek Explanation:
After the Republican National Convention nominated James Blaine for president, Harper's Weekly broke ranks with the party and endorsed Democratic nominee Grover Cleveland. During the campaign, the vast majority of the journal's cartoons were drawn by Thomas Nast and constituted attacks on Blaine and his supporters. Only a few cartoons featured Cleveland or dealt directly with the revolt of the Independent Republicans (Mugwumps). This cartoon is an exception in that Nast is not its creator and it explicitly addresses the split in the Republican party.

On the left, Blaine rides the rear end of the Republican Elephant, which has a picture of Senator John Logan, the Republican vice-presidential nominee attached to its tail. (During the 1872 campaign, Nast drew Gratz Brown, the Liberal Republican/Democratic vice-presidential nominee, as a tag on the coattail of his presidential running-mate, Horace Greeley.) Blaine is surprised to realize that the front of the elephant has separated from its back and is heading for "Independence," not "Party Town." The honest Republican voter chooses to follow the brains.

 

 

 

 
 

 

     
 

 

 
     
 

 

 
     
 

 

 

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