Judge — October 8, 1904 — page 1: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This political cartoon satirizes **Alton B. Parker**, the 1904 Democratic presidential candidate (the mustachioed figure on the right). A quack doctor labeled "Belmont" (likely August Belmont, a prominent Democratic financier) applies "Belmont Political Syndicate Plasters" to cure Parker's candidacy. The plasters claim to fix "a weak platform, a weak presidential candidate, black Democratic records, and all democratic political ailments"—mocking Parker as fundamentally unelectable despite treatment attempts. The doctor's reassurance—"That ought to make a president of you"—drips with sarcasm. The cartoon ridicules Democratic efforts to rehabilitate an unpopular candidate through financial backing and party machinery, suggesting no amount of money or political intervention could make Parker viable.