If you go
Where: Chattanoogan Convention CenterWhen: Reception begins at 5:30 p.m.Admissions: Individual dinner tickets are $100, table reservations start at $1,000. Reservations can be made by calling 423-266-9351 or emailing hcgop@hcgop.com.
The nation will soon turn its eyes to South Carolina and Nevada, where the Republican and Democratic parties will hold their third nominating contests, taking another step in their march toward the presidential election this fall.
For Michael Ramirez, a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist, it's like being in a candy store.
Ramirez, who calls himself an "unabashed conservative," makes his living by commenting on national politics, illustrating and satirizing current events in more than 500 magazines and newspapers, including the Chattanooga Times Free Press.
The cartoonist is the 2016 Hamilton County GOP Lincoln Day speaker and will be talking today at the Chattanooga Convention Center about his book, "Give Me Liberty or Give Me Obamacare," as well as his philosophy about his work.
"I try to get people involved in the self-governing democratic republic," Ramirez said Thursday. "It's really the people who are in charge."
His job is to approach complex issues from an independent perspective and represent them as he sees them because, he said, "A lot of the decisions we're making right now have serious consequences."
With two major parties that political pundits have repeatedly said are being "infiltrated" by outside candidates such as Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders, it's easy to see how extraordinary the current political circumstances are, and how much material the political cartoonist has to work with.
The Obama administration and liberal politicians are Ramirez's typical targets, but he says he is an "equal-opportunity offender" - he has lampooned Republicans, even though he says, "It's troubling to see them beat up on each other like this."
Just two days before the South Carolina primary, Sen. Ted Cruz and Trump became embroiled in yet another conflict, with Trump threatening to sue Cruz if the latter doesn't retract ads Trump asserts are lies.
But as candidates lob attacks at one another while dashing from one town hall meeting to the next, Ramirez says it's all part of a process that makes America great.
"You have this WWF wrestling match where you have these tag-team wrestlers, except the tag teams are fighting amongst themselves before they even get in the ring," he said.
"The beauty of America is we have this ability and freedom of speech to debate these things and work it all out."
In the middle of the fray, Ramirez does think some Republican candidates have more credibility than others.
Speaking about Trump, he said, "A person who cannot delineate between illegal immigration and legal immigration, a person who cannot delineate between radical Islam and Islam, has no reason being the president of the United States. You're just too dumb to be president of the United States."
Adding to the charged political climate is the recent death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, a vacancy that turned the high court's 5-4 conservative majority into a 4-4 tie.
"It doesn't bode well for the republic," Ramirez said.
President Barack Obama has said he would nominate a candidate to fill the seat in the coming weeks. Ramirez satirized the statement, but he is confident Senate Republicans will be able to block an appointment during Obama's presidency.
"I'm 80 percent sure they will stick to their guns," he laughed. "I wish I could say I were 100 percent."
Contact staff writer Emmett Gienapp at egienapp@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6731.