If you know me, you know this cartoon, and it might be the only thing you know about me.
But even if you don’t know me or the cartoon, you’ve probably come across the joke in some form or another. It’s been part of the cultural conversation since it appeared three decades ago.
For example, on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart back in 2012, Nancy Pelosi used a slight modification of the joke to describe the Republican response to Obama’s proposals:
And in a 2018 New York Magazine article entitled “The Establishment Will Never Say No to a War,” Andrew Sullivan borrowed the phrase to reinforce the point he was making:
Of course, it has also been brainlessly ripped off in MemeVille, where good ideas go to be made adorably meaningless:
However, when it’s not a rip-off but a timely editorial take-off, it’s an homage that honors me. A case in point is this cartoon published in The Buffalo News last week:
I contacted Adam Zyglis, Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist for The Buffalo News, to congratulate him and ask how he came to adapt the cartoon. Here’s his response:
I believe Trump’s desire to postpone the election was really his way of saying he didn’t want to have it at all. I needed a metaphor, and the businessman in the ‘never’ cartoon popped into my head.
In my mind, the ‘How about never’ cartoon is one of the most quintessential New Yorker cartoons. It perfectly captures the tone and humor in what so many cartoonists try to emulate.”
All of this goes to illustrate the compellingly versatile power of a good cartoon to communicate. The phrase “How about never” transcends its original use to become a kind of shorthand phrase that’s both universally understood and eternally funny.
If you’re in the market for good election cartoons – past or present – you can find them, along with thousands of other classics and soon-to-be classics, at CartoonStock.com, the largest cartoon archive in the universe!
Whether you’re writing an article, speaking with Jon Stewart, or just composing your own very important presentation, we’ve got the cartoon you need.
Yours in Good Humor,
Bob