2016 Presidential Cattle Call, Democratic Edition

Saturday I went over the 2016 Repubican Presidential Primary Candidates, mostly by dividing them into tiers. The Democratic field is easier because it's smaller, having only five candidates of note. I don't think the rankings will surprise anyone, but here goes.

1) Hillary Clinton

Clinton has more money than anyone other than Jeb or Donald Trump, the support of the Democratic Party apparatus, and strong primary poll numbers. She also still beats all the other candidates by nine points or more in general election polls (see head-to-head numbers versus Jeb Bush Donald Trump, Scott Walker, Chris Christie, Paul Ryan, Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, Mike Huckabee, and Ted Cruz). That said, she used to be stronger against the Republican field, the latest Quinnipiac University poll show her losing in some swing states, and her approval ratings are down according to Gallup. In other words, her inevitability has taken a bit of a hit...but really not enough to derail her campaign. The overwhelming evidence is still that she will win in a landslide.

2) Bernie Sanders

There's a LONG drop from Hillary Clinton to long-time Socialist and up-until-recently Independent Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. His favorables are high in some early primary states, and he's surging in the polls. All of this generates a lot of buzz. Could he be the next Barack Obama? Well...not so much. His surge in the polls still has Hillary crushing him and everyone else by about 40 points. The good news for Sanders fans is that he's dragged the debate to the left...which has, I think, forced Clinton to the left as well. Her proposal to deploy half a billion solar panels in the next decade might well be a result of this. There's also the interesting prospect that Sanders could make Democratic Socialism cool again vis-a-vie the Tumblr Left.

3) Martin O'Malley

You know you've hit Third Tier when you get to the point where most of your audience says, "Who?" O'Malley served two terms as Mayor of Baltimore and then two terms as Governor of Maryland; Maryland law forbids a Governor from serving more than two consecutive terms, so he sat out the 2014 election. Early on he entered the Presidential race with the hopes of --- again --- dragging the conversation to the Left. Unfortunately for him, the Left crystallized on Sanders, leaving O'Malley with some support from Baltimore- and DC-area fans. He'll make the debates but he won't make it to the White House. If I were him, I'd consider running against Republican incumbent Larry Hogan in 2018. The Democrats are going to need win big in state government elections in 2018 and 2020 if they want to win the redistricting fight and have a chance at the House in 2022.

4) James Webb

Ten years ago James Webb was a Netroots darling, a "Fighting Democrat" whose deep military experience, service under the Reagan administration, and fierce criticism of the Iraq war, would help lead the Democratic Party back into relevance. His 2006 Senate victory gave the Democrats control of the Senate for eight years, and many would argue that it was his victory speech --- which the media didn't realize at the time was a victory speech --- that did it. The Democratic Party owes him big. And so he's chosen to run for President. I like the guy, but let's be blunt: he's against the Iran deal, he wants to rein in the EPA, and he favors fossil fuel production over renewables. He's a Reagan Democrat in a post-Obama world. He hasn't got a prayer.

5) Lincoln Chafee

This former Republican Senator from Rhode Island turned Independent recently became a Democrat to run as Governor. Now he's running for President. Chances are, you learned this fact by reading this blog post. I like Chafee because I have a soft spot for Providence RI and because he was the only Republican Senator to vote against the Iraq fiasco, but again, he's running to Hillary's right and generally doesn't stand a chance. On the bright side, maybe we'll see him at Necronomicon.

The Making of Signum Advenit

(In case you want to know what SC is doing. --maxomai)

Originally posted by xylograph_rss at The Making of Signum Advenit

http://xylographilia.com/2015/07/28/the-making-of-signum-advenit/

http://xylographilia.com/?p=3227

The design for “Signum Advenit” sketched onto the block.

As you may already know from my most recent post, I’m in the process of creating a new edition specifically for the Kickstarter campaign supporting the 20th annual H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival. This print is inspired by this year’s festival theme—Expedition to R’lyeh—based on the concept of Miskatonic University professors Henry Armitage and William Dyer journeying to the South Pacific in search of the enigmatic island.

Those of you acquainted with Lovecraft mythos will recognize Henry Armitage as the librarian who first appeared in The Dunwich Horror. In this short story, a frighteningly disfigured social pariah named Wilbur Whateley harbors an unearthly presence in his home. Over the years it grows and grows until it fills the entire house, killing Wilbur’s mother, grandfather, and a number of cows in the process. Desperate to rid himself of the ghastly entity, Wilbur travels to Miskatonic University to obtain a copy of the Necronomicon, seeking instructions for summoning the Great Old One Yog-Sothoth. There he encounters university librarian Dr. Henry Armitage, who refuses to lend him the book.

Likewise, geology professor William Dyer makes his first appearance in The Mountain of Madness, in which he leads a catastrophic expedition to Antarctica. Later, in The Shadow Out of Time, he accompanies an expedition to Australia’s Great Sandy Desert. (Given how horror has a way of finding him wherever he goes, one wonders whether Dyer is really the best choice of a traveling companion.)

A detail of the flaming key/comet mid-carving.

This year’s H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival theme is based on the idea of Armitage and Dyer joining forces and mounting an expedition to Lovecraft’s famous island of R’lyeh. With documents pulled straight from the Miskatonic University library archives they’ve calculated the date of the island’s next sighting, and participants in this year’s festival have the opportunity to experience the excitement firsthand through our Kickstarter exclusives. These rewards include an expedition log book, a map of R’lyeh, a box of artifacts, and more. For just this occasion, I’ve designed an original hand-pulled woodcut print based on the sort of imagery one might find in the Miskatonic University rare book rooms. The finished piece, Signum Advenit, is an example of the type of illustration Armitage and Dyer would have used to calculate their journey to the lost city of R’lyeh.

In this woodcut, we see a seated figure with a book at her feet burning incense in an upturned human skull: an offering to those whose return she seeks. The figure, though apparently human from the waist up, has a mermaid-like tail evocative of the siren: a denizen of the deep notorious for luring unsuspecting fishermen to a watery death. (Indeed, a shipwreck can be seen vanishing into the waves behind her.) In the background we see R’lyeh depicted as a walled medieval city, a staple of the 15th-century woodcuts on which this piece is based. Above, a comet containing a key descends from the sky while a cosmic eye keeps watch. This is the sign that “the stars are right” to raise R’lyeh from the sea. Attentive observers will notice that the sky contains twenty stars, a nod to the 20th anniversary of the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival.

Another process photo.

While the Kickstarter campaign has already been fully funded, it isn’t too late to get your hands on one of these limited edition commemorative prints. Contributing toward stretch goals at the Cryptic Design, VIP Yog-Sothoth, Traveler from Beyond the Stars, and All Access levels and above will entitle backers to a rewards package including an original hand-pulled print of their very own. You also have the option of adding Signum Advenit to your rewards at any level for an additional $70.

Finally, if you’re interested in a behind-the-scenes look at the making of Signum Advenit, check out this video to see its very first inking!