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Capitol Ink

Capitol Ink | Best of 2020: The presidential election

R.J. Matson continues to show 2020 the door with his favorite cartoons of the year satirizing the presidential race

As the pandemic raged, everything was affected, including political primaries, as depicted in “Voter PPE,“ from April 4.
As the pandemic raged, everything was affected, including political primaries, as depicted in “Voter PPE,“ from April 4. (R.J. Matson)
By R.J. Matson
Posted December 23, 2020 at 7:00am

“We live in strange times. We also live in strange places, each in a universe of our own.” The late, great Douglas Adams wrote those words in 1992, but they could easily apply to 2020. It’s now an understatement — and possibly a cliché — to say that it was a year like no other.

Despite being hampered by a global pandemic, we still flexed our democratic muscles, electing a new president (sorry, conspiracy theorists) and proving that our system of government still works. Barely.

So now let’s look back at the election of 2020 through the lens of Capitol Ink.

[Also check out Matson’s Best of 2020: Coronavius edition]

“Choice Overload” from Feb. 12 reminds us of time long ago before the pandemic when there was Democratic presidential primary.
“Joe-mentum,“ published on March 5, shows an energized, post-South Carolina primary Biden campaign that’s ready to roll.
True — and prescient — words from “Trump 2020,” published on June 11.
President Trump’s disastrous decision to hold a campaign rally in the middle of a pandemic is lampooned in “The Golden Driller” from June 18.
The first presidential debate was, to quote CNN’s Dana Bash, “a s—how,” lowering expectations for the second, as “Mute Point” from Oct. 22 illustrates.
Published on Election Day, “Key Question” asks what was really on voters’ minds this year.
“On Track” from Nov. 5 reflects Trump’s hurry to discredit the 2020 election even before the race had been called.
Even Attorney General William Barr could not see any validity to Trump’s claims of election fraud in “He Was Robed!” from Dec. 2.

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