If It Walks, Talks, and Campaigns Like a Duck...

I was working for a bookstore chain when the children's book Duck for President was published and then displayed with much fanfare in large cardboard dumps as part of some corporate promotional deal. The attention lavished upon this unoriginal winner of the NYT Best Illustrated Book award annoyed me somewhat, and whenever things got slow I would retrieve a copy of the Essential Howard the Duck trade paperback from the Graphic Novels section to show my coworkers that Steve Gerber had originated this concept way back in 1976 in what is easily one of the greatest comic book series of all time.

I was reminded of this today when I discovered that Nickelodeon is making a Duck for President movie. My bemusement at the existence of 2 separate presidential waterfowls was compounded by a quick Google search that turned up a "Daffy Duck for President" campaign, book and short by Chuck Jones. And apparently Donald Duck for President has become some weird internet meme that I don't get.

I'm not sure what it is about ducks that makes them such appealing candidates for the presidency. Gerber has always been known as a trailblazer, so perhaps Howard is still setting trends 2 decades after his bid for the White House. Regardless, after suffering through 2 terms with Dubya, I for one will glady welcome our new feathered overlords.