Walt Handelsman

Well, I'm sitting in my Minneapolis hotel room basically tearing up a bunch of funny cartoon ideas that just don't work in light of Gustav bearing down on New Orleans. I spoke with my old editor and close friend, Jim Amoss, at The Times-Picayune in New Orleans last night. I asked what the feeling was down there and he summed it up this way: "Just pray for us, Walt."
The sting of Katrina will never leave the souls of New Orleanians who lived through the storm and suffered, and continue to suffer, through the unbelievably slow rebuilding of their city and their lives. The idea of another killer hurricane hitting almost three years to the day of Katrina must be brutal for them. Many of my friends have fled to Mississippi. Let's just hope that somehow the storm weakens.
Meanwhile...Up here, the delegates, the media and the event planners are in kind of a weird holding pattern. Will the convention be cut short. One rumor is that John McCain may not come at all. Bush and Cheney have cancelled and many of the delegates wandering around the hotel seem out of sorts. They came here to have a party and realize now that it will be a totally different deal.

More later---Walt

Well, after running around at the DNC for a week. I thought yesterday would be a relaxing sleep-in, eat, drink and rest day. But after McCain picked Sarah Palin as his running mate, I found myself sitting in my nasty Denver hotel room all day glued to the TV trying to make some sense of what it all meant.

My first reaction was that McCain had made the purely political pick of a woman to attract disenfranchised Hillary voters and middle-of-the-road soccer moms (er...hockey moms) rather than looking for the most qualified candidate who could step in on Day One if, God forbid, something should happen to him.

It's wonderful that he picked a woman, but is Sarah Palin really the most qualified woman in the GOP universe for the job? I mean, honestly.

Does McCain really think that the millions of women who supported Hillary will vote for him becuase of Palin, regardless of the fact that she is basically the polar opposite of Hillary on the issues that most democratic women supported Hillary for in the first place?

I just ran into a woman buying a paper at the Denver airport who was standing there just shaking her head as she looked at the Palin headlines in the paper. "This is an insult!,"she said. "He must think woman are so stupid"...OUCH!

More from the Twin Cities.

---Walt

I'm getting a bit freaked that a storm is blowing towards my old home town. I've watched the slow but steady rebuilding of New Orleans. Emphasis on slow. I call it a personal rebuilding. Everyone I know is really just doing what they can on their own. It would be a true disaster to have another big setback.
Speaking of disasters, let's see how George W. responds to this one.
Fingers crossed....

Obama is an awesome speaker and as I wrote yesterday, it's wonderful to be a part of American history. But it's important to stay objective and just cover the event. Period.

At political conventions wierd stuff is supposed to happen...and it does! Last night I shared a cab with two other folks leaving the convention. Turns out they are actually Hillary Clinton's hair and makeup team! It was an interesting ride. I learned a lot. Plus I scored a new haircut and pantsuit!

One of the great perks of working these conventions is getting to hang with my brother, Steve.

It's easy as a journalist to get jaded. As a cartoonist, I just naturally see everything in terms of humor or sarcasm...But just moments ago, watching Barack Obama officially become the first African-American nominee of a major American party, I know I just witnessed first hand a great moment in the history of our country and it's a privilege to be a part of it.

---Walt

The giant parking lot surrounded by gates for protesters is almost always empty

But last night, as I left to go out for a few drinks with friends, there was a lone guy in there doing this. Now there's a cause we can all get behind!

A funny thing happened on the way into the convention hall.

Outside the work tent, the national media is offered only the finest cuisine.

The press keeps yammering on about how scripted these conventions have become.

The dems are hoping Joe Biden will be a pitbull.

When I arrived at the convention site Sunday afternoon, I spotted a group of heavily armed security forces running drills on a huge SUV with like 8 guys hanging off the outside of the vehicle. They were covered in bulky armor and carrying gigantic flat-black rifles. Bottom line, they looked very cool and very ready to kick butt.
Fast forward to this morning...As soon as I arrived I saw a group of local policemen all hanging off a little white golf cart. They exact same kind I bounce around through the woods on when I tear up the turf on Long Island.
As I tried to snap their picture they screeched to a stop in front of me and in a menacing tone yelled at me that I wasn't allowed to take their picture.
Now, I have a great deal of respect for law enforcement and I particularly appreciate what they do to protect me and everyone else at big events like this. But the only reason they didn't want the picture taken is because they looked silly...I mean reeeeeeeeally silly They knew it...I knew it...And now through the magic of ball point pen and paper...You know it.

This animation is over a year old and I've posted it here before but watching all that's going on here this week in Denver, it still strikes me as relevant. See what you think.

Enjoy---Walt

When I work in my Newsday office, I turn off the lights so I can trace my rough sketches onto my thicker drawing paper by using a light table. So I lugged the light table to the DNC in Denver but once I saw our unbelievably bright, plastic-roofed work tent, I knew I was in trouble.

First I tried pulling the blue plastic skirt running around the table over my head like one of those old-time photographers but that didn't work.

Then I actually tried to lay on the floor under the table but realized immediately that I would never be able to walk again if I spent two hours down there.

Finally I decided to think inside the box.

More later---Walt

Coming to these conventions is always such a sureal experience. This is the fifth time I've been lucky enough to be sent to draw cartoons at the conventions and although it's hectic getting around the crowded venues and a real pain standing in the long, slow lines to get through security...The bottom line is I love the excitement.

This is a news junkies crack house!

It turns out that on this very morning the power center of New York politics was at United Airlines gate C-14 at LaGuardia airport where I just happened to be seated.

To the right of me sat Congressman Gary Ackerman. To the left of me sat Congressman Steve Israel. In front of me sat Suffolk legislative big-wig Jon Cooper. And holding court in the aisle across from me was none other than the Speaker of the New York State Assembly, Sheldon Silver.

Luckily Shelly didn't mention any of the mean spirited (read: funny) cartoons I have done about him lately. He spoke in hushed tones...I think they were holding some sort of secret meeting about the pros and cons of the airport bran muffins.

Jon Cooper casually mentioned to me that he hadn't met any Hillary supporters who were not solidly behind Obama...To which a random woman seated behind us poked up her head and said, " I'm not...I still support Hillary! "

Let the fun begin!

At one point Congressman Israel seemed to be working the room. All I could think was these folks had already paid the extra bag fee and now they were being hit up for a campaign contribution at Gate C-14!

For the record, Gary Ackerman sat in First class, Jon Cooper sat in the middle of the plane, Steve Israel was smashed into a window seat next to a squirming child while I sat comfortably behind him in an aisle seat chuckling to myself.

The esteemed Mr Silver sat in close proximity to the true seat of power on an airplane...across from the bathroom.

Cartoonist Disclaimer: I am a cartoonist. I am not a professional writer. I doodle for a living. I embellish the facts and twist reality on a daily basis and get paid for it. If these convention blog entries have misspellings and incorrect punctuation please do not contact my editor to complain. She may get mad and not send me back in 4 years.

Give a news junkie a break!

More tomorrow---Walt

It's Convention Time Again!

There are more clowns than in a circus tent in this new animation about the upcoming political conventions.

• More animations from Walt Handelsman
• More Election 2008 and politics

Hi everyone ... I'll be away from the the drawing board until August 26th.

It's time for our family's annual summer vacation. Boating, camping and fishing in the Adirondack mountains. Largemouth bass, beautiful scenery, refreshingly cold water and big smiles all around. There's no better way to spend family time together.

I will resurface at The Democratic National Convention in Denver for some
on-the-spot cartooning and blogging.

I'll have a chance to see to some of my fellow editorial cartoonists, get a close look some of the politicians I doodle, and hang out with my brother Steve. Steve is a national corespondent for NBC News based in D.C. You may know him from Channel 4 in NY. Every four years we get a chance to cover the conventions together in our own separate ways. It's a real treat.

From Denver, it's directly on to The Republican National Convention in Minneapolis for another week of convention antics.

I'll be posting cartoons, rough sketches, daily musings and some videos from both conventions.

Stay 'tooned

---Walt

I will be posting my newest animation on Wednesday. It's a sing-a-long about the upcoming political conventions.

Stay Tooned....Walt