Editing 1756: I'm With Her

In this serious, ''no joke'', comic released the day before the {{w|2016 United States presidential election}} (which was more contentious than most, due in part to many people finding both candidates unusually distasteful), [[Randall]] urged his American viewership to vote, and showed his {{w|Political endorsement|endorsement}} for {{w|Hillary Clinton}}, the {{w|US Democratic Party|Democratic}} nominee in the election. She was up against the {{w|US Republican Party|Republican}} nominee [[Donald Trump]], who ended up winning. For the sake of completeness, it should be mentioned that there were also nominees from other parties, including {{w|Green Party of the United States|Green Party}} nominee {{w|Jill Stein}}, and {{w|Libertarian Party (United States)|Libertarian}} nominee {{w|Gary Johnson}}. Neither hoped to garner enough votes to become president, but there was a chance {{w|spoiler candidate|they could affect the result}} in some states (no third-party candidate has ''won'' a state since {{w|United States presidential election, 1968|1968}}, and it did not occur this time either: the closest any came in 2016 was independent candidate {{w|Evan McMullin}} in Utah.)

The "H" with an arrow was {{w|Hillary Clinton presidential campaign, 2016|Clinton's campaign}} logo, and '''I'm with her''' an official slogan that was widely used by her supporters, hence the title. Randall then lists tips to help you cast your vote ([[#How to help|see table below]]) suggesting a personal investment in the election. Clinton herself may be represented by [[Blondie]] sitting on top of the H looking out at the reader as the only of the 11 characters. The only type of joke in the comic is the chosen characters. Two with weapons flank the left and right side looking out ready to defend against Trump: [[Ponytail]] with an emp gun (that she also wielded in [[322: Pix Plz]] for melting computers of persons who make snide remarks at women, clearly a reference to {{w|Donald Trump sexual misconduct  allegations|allegations of Donald Trump's sexual harassment of women}} in general and especially to his ''grab them by the pussy'' {{w|Donald Trump and Billy Bush recording|comment}}) and [[Cueball]] with his sword (from [[303: Compiling]]). See more details in the [[#Character gallery|character gallery]] below.

This is the first time Randall has used a comic to directly support a presidential campaign, although he did [https://blog.xkcd.com/2008/01/28/obama/ endorse] {{w|Barack Obama}} in 2008 on his [[Blag]]. At that time, Randall wrote that he was troubled by Hillary Clinton's "basic lack of integrity", which is interesting considering he later endorsed her. He wrote later that it was very controversial when he endorsed Obama, but that it was not the most [[388: Fuck Grapefruit#Controversy|controversial comic he had published]] at that time. This comic might take that prize now, given that this was one of the most discussed elections up to its time.  This is particularly noteworthy outside the US—for example, some European leaders openly opposed Trump, while others supported him. There were also reports of Russian hackers attempting to influence the election.

Randall's support for Hillary Clinton may have been due in part to Donald Trump {{w|Donald Trump#Healthcare.2C education and environment|being a prominent}} {{w|climate change denier}}. Randall has published comics opposing climate change denial such as this: [[1732: Earth Temperature Timeline]], published less than two months before the election, as well as several other [[:Category:Climate change|comics on climate change]]. Also, Trump beating Clinton made Randall's [[1313: Regex Golf|regex that matches the last names of elected US presidents but not their opponents]] impossible to update. All the information on the bottom half of the comic includes sites, numbers, info, etc., current as of 2016, that are intended to help US voters to vote, regardless of whom they vote for. Including this information can assist voters who don't understand the process, don't feel that it's worth it, or feel intimidated or threatened.  In general, these sites and numbers were likely included to help boost voter turnout.

The title text, "We can do this", refers to Randall's desire to unite Democratic voters and elect Hillary Clinton to the White House instead of Trump.  One can [https://www.lookhuman.com/design/86542-hillary-clinton-we-can-do-it/tshirt buy T-shirts] with the famed "{{w|We Can Do It!}}" logo from the Rosie the Riveter wartime poster, but with Hillary Clinton in the famed position.  Both resemble the former president {{w|Barack Obama}}'s campaign slogan {{w|Barack Obama 2008 presidential campaign#Slogan|Yes We Can}} and German Chancellor {{w|Angela Merkel}}'s "[https://www.dict.cc/?s=Wir+schaffen+das+%5BAngela+Merkel%5D Wir schaffen das]" (We can do this) refrain during the Syrian War refugees influx the year earlier—like Clinton, Merkel was fighting against {{w|Pegida|a populist nativist movement}} that wanted to close the country's borders. Although the title text wasn't originally meant as a joke, we in the future, aware of the election results, can extract humor from it in the form of {{w|Irony#Dramatic irony|dramatic irony.}}

From left to right on the left side of the H are <!--AS THIS INFORMATION IS ALSO RELEVANT FOR OTHER COMICS LINKING HERE PLEASE LEAVE IT BOTH HERE AND ABOVE EVEN THOUGH IT IS A REPETITION-->

*[[Ponytail]] with a ray gun that she wielded in [[322: Pix Plz]] (wherein she was named Joanna), for the purposes melting computers of persons whom make snide remarks at women. Possibly a reference to {{w|Donald Trump sexual misconduct allegations|Donald Trump's alleged sexual harassment of women}}.

*[[Black Hat]], who was the one introducing Joanna/Ponytail in the mentioned comic

*[[Danish]], Black Hat's girlfriend setting up a kite, although it could be Megan, but she is also shown later with her regular shorter hair. However, it has mainly been Megan in comics with kites, like [[235: Kite]] and [[1614: Kites]]. Kites are a [[:Category:Kites|recurring theme]] on xkcd.

*[[White Hat]] looking at the kite.  

On top of the H are

*[[Blondie]], (looking out at us, maybe representing Clinton herself)

*[[Megan]], (next to Cueball)

*[[Cueball]], (forming the standard couple in xkcd with Megan)

*[[Hairbun]] with glasses (so specifically not the one from the previous comic [[1755: Old Days]], but rather like in [[1637: Salt Mine]]).  

On the right side of the H are

*Hairbun without glasses holding her hand out towards a cute squirrel. This could be a reference to [[635: Locke and Demosthenes]], where the squirrel is poisoned.

*[[Beret Guy]] holding a squirrel out towards Hairbun without glasses. The first time squirrels were mentioned was actually when Beret Guy found them in a tree in [[167: Nihilism]] and since then they have become a [[:Category:Squirrels|recurring theme]] on xkcd and a similar squirrel can for instance be seen in [[1503: Squirrel Plan]].

*[[:Category:Multiple Cueballs|Another Cueball]] standing on an office chair wielding a sword as in [[303: Compiling]]. Interestingly enough the previous comic [[1755: Old Days]] was about Cueball asking Hairbun about {{w|compiling}} in the old days. Seems realistic that Randall has this comic ready for this Monday before the election for some time, and when finding this 9-yeared version of Cueball in the old comics, he may have gotten inspired to make a comic about compiling in the old days.)

:[Inset: Eleven characters are drawn around a huge H with a rightwards arrow as the horizontal bar connecting the two vertical towers.  Ponytail stands on the left with a raygun looking leftwards. Behind her is Black Hat who looks at a girl that might be Danish or Megan (but with longer hair than Megan typically has). She is flying a kite above the first two characters. Behind her and looking up at the kite is White Hat. The H is right behind him, and on top of the left tower sits Blondie looking straight out at the reader with her legs dangling over the edge and her arms resting on her knees. On the arrow sits Megan leaning against the left tower, also dangling her legs over the edge and arms resting on her knees. Cueball stands to her right by the right tower. On top of the right tower sits Hairbun with glasses looking straight right with her legs dangling over the edge one arm resting on a knee and leaning back on the other arm. On the right side of the H is Hairbun without glasses holding a handout towards the squirrel which Beret Guy is holding out in both arms towards her. Another Cueball stands on an office chair on the right brandishing a sword looking rightwards. He keeps his balance by holding his other arm out behind him.