This week we had two covers: one on Donald Trump and one on Britain’s National Health Service. In most of the world we argued that Mr. Trump is much more likely than many people realize to win the presidency of America again. Polls for the 2024 primaries are unreliable, but he has such a large lead over Ron DeSantis and other Republican contenders that it’s hard to see him losing. And although it is more likely than not that Joe Biden will defeat him in the general election, betting markets give a one in three chance for Mr. Trump to move back to the White House.
Our designers did a few sketches to show Trump’s return. One idea was to show him as Jack-in-the-box, kicking out and surprising everyone. Another depicted him as a rocket man, launching a campaign with fire and fury.
Mindful of his reputation for crowd-pleasing, we toyed with the idea of a microphone with Trumpy hair instead of a muffler. We were thinking of Mr. DeSantis, the governor of Florida, who expressed his claim this week. The names “Ronald” and “Donald” suggested a particular brand of fast food that Mr. Trump is known for. But even though Mr. DeSantis is in the news, we’re not sure he’ll be much of a challenge, so we let him go.
The Economist he does not welcome the prospect of a second Trump term. However, we try to be fair. One sketch depicted the former president as a deranged ax murderer (a riff on Stanley Kubrick’s film “The Shining”), but we felt he was over the top. So, in a more subtle way, there was a dark red picture; the victory suggested a bloodied dictator rather than an erratic populist.
We would prefer softer pictures. In the end we went with a funny funny title, suggesting that Mr. Trump will scare American moderates and liberals, not to mention the rest of the world, for some time to come.
CEO: Donald Trump is most likely the Republican candidate
Summary: Ron DeSantis has little chance of defeating Donald Trump
United States: DeSantis is a true believer, if less of a politician, than Trump
In Britain our cover story asked how we would fix it SNS. The obvious signs used were medical ones. We were thinking of defibrillator pads and drugs, but those weren’t quite right. The SNS need thoughtful reform, not panic medicine. And it won’t be as simple or as cheap as popping a pack of pills.
We tried to “SNS” brand itself receiving medical treatment. We put him on a drip; and we attached monitors and a cannon to it. We liked the simplicity and directness of these images, but were concerned that they were too vague. They wouldn’t look out of place on a government report.
Another idea was to use a picture. In one picture we had Aneurin Bevan, one of the SNSand the original architects, shedding tears. In another we had a nurse in London, looking tired after a 13-hour shift, captured by Johannah Churchill, a nurse who is also a photographer.
When asked to inject a dose of wit, our designers let their imaginations run wild. One picture started with an injured teddy bear, which was very screaming. Then the designer added a gun, to evoke the idea that the health service was at risk. But the threat against him is not intentional, as the gun implied; it is that an aging population requires more treatment and better management. A picture of an ambulance lying supine and receiving an intravenous infusion was funnier. Laughter may not be the best medicine, but it does no harm.
CEO: How to fix NHS
Britain: To survive, Britain’s NHS must stop hospice care
