More Stilwell - And rest in peace, George McGovern

An appropriately timed posting from the digitally restored comic strip "Stilwell," published in the Cleveland State University student weekly, The Cauldron, from 1971-73. Sen. George McGovern died today at the age of 90. Two weeks shy of 40 years ago, he lost the presidential election to incumbent Richard Nixon. This cartoon was published on Nov. 9, 1972. I brought in Mickey Mouse -- who has his own history, I believe, as a sarcastically cast write-in presidential candidate -- to portray another dejected loser, this one in support of write-in Ben, which is a reference to the rat in the movie and the Michael Jackson song of the same name. After forty years, the idea for Mickey and Ben seemed like a random contrivance, but after a little research, I discovered that the film was in theaters at that time, and that Jacko's single, the title tune from the movie soundtrack, was No. 1 on the charts. It was his first No. 1 hit as a solo artist. So while those facts only modestly help my cartoon gag, I think one could make that case that it was back then, precisely 40 years ago, when America elected Michael Jackson the King of Pop.