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‘Drawn’ Out Election Season

SCRANTON — It’s fair to say this political season has been different from most in recent memory. The race for president has provided so much fodder ...

SCRANTON -- It's fair to say this political season has been different from most in recent memory. The race for president has provided so much fodder for editorial cartoonists.

For more than 500 days now, this presidential slug fest has played out on-air, online and on the editorial pages of the local paper.

Now, at the end of the race, cartoonist John Cole is ready to get back to drawing everyday issues.

Three floors up in the Scranton Times-Tribune building, John Cole sketched out his Election Day cartoon. It's the latest in a long, testy campaign season for the presidential candidates.

"This past political season has been unlike anything I’ve experienced," he said.

And Cole has been at this for some time, picking apart the issues and politicians that get skewered on the editorial page of the paper. Lately, the rhetoric and rancor in the race for the White House has been a concern to Cole.

"What could be worrying for American society has been very good for cartoonists, and Hillary on one side and especially Donald Trump on the other," said Cole.

Week after week, day after day the campaigns have given Cole enough to work with and then some.

"This is the world’s slowest race, these two are running along on their short approval ratings, how’d we end up with these two as front-runners?"

"It’s a whole different category of commentary we’re able to have on the page for the day," said Times-Tribune Associate Editor Pat McKenna.

Now, with the end in sight, Cole is ready to get back to drawing Pennsylvania politics, illustrating Scranton issues following a race for president that's kept his artistic hand busy.

"This election sucks all the oxygen out of the room," he said.

Cole's cartoons are in the Scranton Times-Tribune almost every day. He said other cartoonists around the country have been dealing with the same treasure trove of material which comes to an end Tuesday.

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