Tom Toles!!!

Here, Tom Toles uses caricature to address the issue of Romney's old job.  As it is the newest topic which the other candidates have latched on to to attack Romney, he is shown responding. His first speech bubble shows him playing to the 99%.  The cigar smoking 1%, is comically appalled, and the mini cartoon at the bottom right shows Romney trying to appease the people that fund his campaign. Overall it portrays Romney as pandering to everyone in order to gain support.

Handicapping

I don't know how handicapping works, so, I'm just list who I think is going to have the best chance of getting the nomination, from least likely to most likely.

Bachman's out, but she'd be last.
Then there's Perry. I thought he was going to drop out too, especially after spending so much for so little in Iowa.
After that there's Ron Paul. He might be getting more attention, but he'd never get the nomination because of his liberal social views.
John Huntsman. Also never going to happen.
Rick Santorum is tooooooo conservative. It's kinda scary. He wouldn't get the nomination because he would never win the general election. He has no middle appeal.
Newt Gingrich has a chance, even though he's recently lost a lot of popularity. He's nice and republican, but not too much.
Mitt Romney. He has the best organization, plenty of money, the most middle of the road platform and has the best chance against Obama. That being said, the GOP doesn't like him and has been systematically going through all the other options till they ran out of steam.
Chris Christie.

Even More Tom Toles

Here, Tom Toles makes fun of the GOP by depicting the elephant at a restaurant unable to decide what he wants. He predicts that "after months of looking at the menu" the party will have "decided to have the Romney". The cartoon deals with party not liking any of the candidates using caricature. The cartoons message is that no one new will jump in to be a candidate at the last second, and the GOP will be stuck with Romney.

More Tom Toles!

Here Tom Toles caricaturizes both Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich.  Gingrich has become an attack dog, referencing his attacks on Romney in debates for his business practices when he worked in the private sector at Bain Capitol.  Romney is indecisive as always, and the little blurb at the bottom even references his tendency to try and make everyone happy by having both. The cartoonist's emphasizing the fact that the Republican candidates are feeding off each other in the time before the primaries.

The Holidays Are Here!

My favorite holiday memory is one from way back when I was about five. It was just me and my family, here at home and my brother and I had done out traditional waking of the parents at six o clock sharp. We then had to wait at the top of the staircase while my mom set up the video camera downstairs.  My dad sat with us as we waited, asking us what we thought Santa had brought us. "A pony!" My brother was a little more reasonable, with "A spaceship!" being at the top of his list.
When my mom was finally done, my brother and I sprinted down the stairs, around the corner and hurtled towards the stockings, which were stuffed so fat they had been taken down from wall and laid on chairs. But we each had one gift that was too big to fit in the stocking. Mine was a pony.  A giant, stuffed pony that has yet to be beaten as the best gift Santa's ever given me.

Pay-roll tax tricks

Here, Tom Toles is representing the payroll tax bill situation as the GOP luring Obama into a trap.  Republicans in

Congress amended the bill so that the tax cuts were funded by an oil pipeline, while the democrats want it to be funded 

by a tax on millonaires.  He uses caricature - overemphasizing Obama's tendency to compromise, and subsequently

give up too much to the other side.  The message indicates Obama is weak as a leader, and shouldn't fall for the same 

trick again.

Obama Checkup

Obama's approval ratings, at 43%, are not stellar, but at the same time not dismal. Bush's ratings were only a bit higher when he got reelected back in 2004, but then left office at a meager 25%. And I think Obama has nowhere to go but up. With the troops coming home, for example, people are going to be focusing on the fact that it got done, not how long it took, until later. It's clear Obama's been taking a different approach towards things. He's become more aggressive as the election peeks up over the horizon.  It's ironic; he's becoming more confrontational when the GOP's top guy, Gingrich, is known for being confrontational.

In general, Obama's odds look good. Mainly out of lack of opposition. Gingrich, while he looks strong for now, has skeletons in his closet that, due to his lantern hanging, haven't been blowouts in the news like Cain's misdeeds have.  That, along with his leanings away from the center, hurt his chances at winning over that vast middle/undecided section of America.  Romney would still have a better chance at that policy-wise, but he can't even get the people who ARE paying attention to policy to get excited about him, let alone the masses.  I would say Obama's got just over a 50% chance at this point.  But I hope he's still got some aces up his sleeve to whip out as the election draws nearer, then it would be a done deal.