It’s easy to parse once you realize that the printers inadvertently dropped some of the punctuation. The conversation is apparently to be read as follows:
This conversation is evidently taking place in the context of a liberalization of the national political system. Heretofore, policy had been dictated by an absolute monarch. Now, however, the franchise is being extended to the common citizenry, who will be able to select their leaders from the general population. The king, cognizant of this imminent change (“Soon, people can run for office”), expresses his belief that there nonetheless should be limits on the manner in which these campaigns may occur (“We need a limit on how”). The wizard takes quite the opposite view. He believes running for office should be not only permitted but obligatory (“They should have to”). He implores the king to weigh the options wisely (“Be able to make an intelligent decision”). The king, in a rare moment of self-effacing honesty, declares that he doubts his own capacity to make such momentous decisions on matters of state (“That’s another problem”). I expect that the next installment will reveal that the king has observed in himself the early signs of Alzheimer’s, which observation no doubt induced his voluntary relinquishment of political power to the nascent democratic institutions.
The King of Id is not elected, however… The strip occasionally runs jokes about polls and votes. Eh, poetic license. Sticklers can find lots of anachronisms in the Kingdom, but, hey, it’s a comic strip.
That’s what I thought. The King overthrew his father (has him locked up in a tower of the castle, I believe.) However, over the years, jokes about elections have been common in the strip.
FWIW, I too believe the King is commenting about candidates running well in advance of the next election.
Folks, Brant Parker’s name is the only one credited. I know it used to be credited to Parker & Hart, but does Johnny Hart still have anything to do with it?
BTW, my take on it. the phrase "a limit on how soon " only makes sense one way. Many tinpot dictatorships pretend to be a provisional govt, with democratic elections some time in the future when things are stable enough. If the king promises elections some time within the next 25 years, that will set a limit on how soon people can stand for office.
“they” need to make intelligent decisions - does this refer to the candidates or the electorate? Doesn’t really matter. The king is impugning their intelligence either way.
sigh… He was really funny, once upon a time. At least, when I was eight I thought he was funny. His old comics actually kind of remind me of UserFriendly in their general sense of humor. Now he’s still occasionally amusing, but nothing I’d go diving into the paper for.
