John Auchter
Contributor, Auchter's ArtSince 1995 John has created Michigan-based editorial cartoons for the Grand Rapids Business Journal, the Grand Rapids Press, and MLive Newspapers. His cartoons are currently featured at MichiganPublic.org and are syndicated to newspapers through the Michigan Press Association. John is an active member of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists. You can view an archive of his editorial work and other cartoons at Auchtoon.com.
In addition to cartoons and essays for Michigan Radio, John works as a technical communication specialist. He has worked for a variety companies, from startups to large corporations, and has operated his own business. The job basically is the same as cartooning — putting words and images together to communicate. But in this case, John knows enough not to draw funny pictures of his boss or client. (Well, now he does.)
John grew up on the east side of the state near Flint, graduated from Michigan Tech in da UP, and has lived in West Michigan since. He vacations Up North every summer and shovels lots of snow every winter. After his wife, he is the biggest Tigers fan in the family. He drinks Vernors when his tummy hurts.
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This is the last cartoon of the year, and typically I try to ease off a bit, maybe go with something lighter and more universally appealing. What I came up with, however, is pretty inside politics. Ah, well... it's a political cartoon, right? -
Being mayor of Detroit doesn't quite have the political cache that it once did. Now if Duggan had only been the one who got Detroit into bankruptcy instead of the getting them out of it, he might stand a better chance. Because, apparently, successfully bankrupting things is a great way to get yourself elected these days. -
Back when I was born, if you were a white social conservative living in the South, you'd vote Democrat. And if you were a free-trade, no-tariff capitalist, you'd vote Republican. New opinions are constantly developing to meet a changing world and political parties evolve to meet them. -
I guess I thought that in this country we could and would disagree on law and policy and economics. But there would always be general agreement on the type of person to avoid as a leader. -
How did we get here? Well, we elected Trump, of course. And he told us he intended to follow a course of patronage and fealty in deciding nominees. So no surprise there. But it's also in part due to how easily those who oppose him and his policies allow themselves to lose focus. -
Republicans are already grexing about the legislation Democrats might pass while they still can. Just as the Democrats grexed back in 2018. -
To be honest, I'm still collecting my thoughts on the election. I suspect most of you are. So instead of adding here to the cacophony of articles/posts/pods etc. trying to sort it all out, I'll just leave it to the cartoon to convey the vibe. -
This is for the undecided voters. And if you are one of these people at this point days before the election (and months into a thoroughly exhausting, all-consuming campaign season), I imagine the only criteria left to make a decision on is character — who is the more relatable, decent, stable human being? -
I don't question Rogers' convictions on abortion. Or anybody else's, for that matter. It's a deeply personal issue. But politicians face dilemmas like this all the time — having to decide between core beliefs and what they think might get them elected. So the spin is understandable; it's just not admirable. -
So here we are in 2024, and as part of Trump's favorable polling with men in general, he apparently is making some inroads with Black men, Hispanic men, and even Arab Muslim men. What the heck is wrong with us guys? I mean, history is pretty clear on what comes from enabling Trump (and demagogues in general). Most women seem to understand this.
